Nesting Dolls
by Locked Myself Up in a Room
Summary: A behind the scenes look at Sasori and Deidara's missions during their time together in the akatsuki. This is the story of how Deidara got to know the true Sasori, the Sasori hidden behind all his puppet masks. Sasori may wear many layers, but Deidara finds a way to break through. Rated M for some language and lemons. Sasodei story. Reviews welcome
1. Chapter 1

The wind blew softly against Deidara's blonde hair, a few strands stuck to his mouth to his great annoyance. He brushed them away and took another bite of his dango. Tobi sat next to him, humming a bothersome tune as he had already finished his dango. Deidara sighed, he had thought he was going to glimpse behind that elusive mask, but once again, Tobi hid his true form. _Like someone else I knew,_ Deidara thought to himself, thinking about his previous partner, and how long it took for him to finally reveal his true self to Deidara.

Deidara was recruited into the akatsuki at a very young age, he was only 16 at the time. Still bitter from losing to the crafty sharingan user, Deidara barely paid attention as Kisame filled him in on the akatsuki's three step process to achieving world domination. Deidara didn't care much about world domination, or any of the akatsuki's ideals. He only wanted to impress others with his art of explosion, and he was resentful that he had to now work for this organization, taking orders from others.

They had walked towards a small clearing in the forest, the sunlight pierced through the trees and danced around the shadows, making it easier for Deidara to get a better look at his newest comrades. Itachi stood tall and poised, his dark eyes never faltering or giving any sign of emotion. If Deidara could figure out his weakness, then maybe he could defeat him in their next battle. Deidara clenched his teeth, seething with anger at losing his battle with Itachi. _It's that sharingan…it's truly a work of art, hm!_ Deidara promised to himself at that time to train harder so he could get his revenge on Itachi.

He glanced over at Kisame, the strange looking shark man. Deidara secretly found his sharp teeth and small, fish eyes unnerving. The huge sword he carried on his back did not look too friendly either. Deidara thought it might be best to be wary of him for now, until he had a better idea of his powers and strength.

Then there was Sasori, the impatient one who kept complaining while Deidara and Itachi battled. Deidara couldn't understand his odd appearance. Sasori covered his mouth with a dark cloth and was hunched over, hiding all his limbs from sight. From the tone of his voice and the evil look in his eyes, Deidara guessed that he was one of the older members of the akatsuki.

Once stopped in the clearing, Sasori walked up to Deidara and handed him a ring with a teal gem. "put it on your right index finger," Sasori said in his deep, grumbling voice. Deidara did as he was told, noticing now that the other members around him all wore similar rings, each a different color and on a different finger.

Deidara looked at his hand with the ring, admiring it, "what's the significance of wearing these?" he asked.

Sasori did not respond. The bushes in front of them gave a soft rustle as someone walked into the clearing. Deidara was initially shocked by this man's appearance, but brushed it off quickly. _Each member of this organization has a strange appearance, hm._

The man had bright orange hair and was wearing a black cloak with red clouds on them, just like the other members. His appearance was bizarre to Deidara because of the copious amount of metal piercings that covered his face. His eyes were slightly slanted as he spoke to Deidara, "welcome to the akatsuki. Here's your cloak," he handed Deidara one of the black cloaks with red clouds. "My name is Pain, I am the leader of this organization," Deidara had to stifle back a laugh, _he goes by the name Pain?!_ "I see you have already met Sasori, your new partner. As your first mission, I would like you and Sasori to gather information about a former member of our group, Orochimaru. He is currently hiding within the land of sound."

Sasori piped up just then, "I already have a spy on my former partner."

"Yes, I realize you hired a spy for your personal interest in Orochimaru's matters. However, I would like you two to investigate his whereabouts and give us a detailed update on what he's been planning. Your spy may only have limited information about Orochimaru, you may rendezvous with him, but pry further into the matter. His actions could threaten our plans." Pain explained. "You'll have to disguise yourselves as you gather intel, Orochimaru will no doubt have hidden spies within the village, and he would know if his former akatsuki partner were to show up. He has no knowledge of Deidara yet, but Sasori you will need to go as a different puppet."

"Of course," Sasori responded. Deidara's mind was full of questions at that point. _Puppet? So he's a puppet master then…_

"Take this," Pain handed Sasori a small scroll, "it details the instructions for this mission, down to your disguise. You may have to stay in the land of sound for a few weeks. Go now, it is a long journey from here. I must speak with Itachi and Kisame about another matter," Pain instructed.

They were currently in the land of Earth, just south of the hidden stone village where Deidara had defected from. It would take a few days on foot to travel to the land of sound. As Deidara and Sasori walked out of the clearing, Deidara turned on the hunched figure and said, "we should use my art to fly to our destination, hm."

"Fly?" Sasori asked, with disdain in his voice.

Deidara took out one of his white clay figurines of a bird, and he released a jutsu to make it expand. The bird enlarged big enough for both of them to sit comfortably upon it's back. "I've been wanting to try this out for some time," Deidara admitted, "once in the sky, onlookers will just see a bird, we can fly high enough so that no one will notice us up there, hm." Deidara was quite proud of himself.

Sasori begrudgingly climbed up on the bird's back with Deidara and said, "let's be quick about it then,"

Deidara smirked, "that's right my man." The bird kicked off the ground and flew up high into the blue sky, directed forwards towards the land of sound. Deidara felt a rush of adrenaline as the wind tore at his clothes and hair, whipping them every which way.

As they traveled, Sasori took out the scroll and read its contents quietly to himself. Their travel was spent mostly in silence. Deidara attempted to question Sasori about a variety of matters, but Sasori pushed aside his questions with snide remarks. _This guy is really rubbing me the wrong way, hm._

They landed about a mile outside of the village so that Sasori could prepare his disguise. They slid off of Deidara's bird and Sasori promptly began to amble towards the opening of a small cave. "so what did that scroll say?" Deidara asked.

"Stay here," Sasori demanded, "I'll be out in a moment."

Deidara huffed with displeasure, he did not like being ordered around by this hunched old man. He leaned against a tree and placed his hand into his pocket full of detonating clay. He sincerely hoped he would be able to show off his art for this mission.

It was not long before Deidara heard footsteps walking towards him from within the cave. Deidara was confused as he stared at the woman before him. She had long brown hair and ruby red lips. She was young, probably only a year or two older than himself. The pink kimono she wore nearly covered her feet, Deidara could just make out the red polish on her toes. She was strikingly beautiful.

Before Deidara could question her sudden appearance, she spoke up, "I'll be disguised as Mai, and you'll be known as Daichi. We are traveling to the land of sound under the guise of young lovers."

Deidara was flabbergasted, "Wh-wha?" he stuttered. He tried again, "you're _Sasori?!"_

"You fool," Sasori said as he realized the reason for Deidara's surprised reaction. Even his voice had changed, it was silky smooth and womanly. "I am a puppet master. The body you saw before this one was not my true form, that was Hiruko my puppet armor. This form before you now is also not my true form, but another puppet. I have thousands of puppets that I can use at my will in battle or for disguises. Your art form is fleeting you say, but mine is a different type. My art is eternal, everlasting in the form of a true puppet." Deidara hinted the tone of passion in Sasori's voice at the end as he spoke about his art. Deidara respected that Sasori was a fellow artist with passion, but he could not dismiss his aversion towards Sasori's view of art.

"We have opposite views of what true art is I see, hm." Deidara said, then getting back to the issue of the matter, "but what do you mean that we have to be lovers? Is that what is said on this scroll?"

"Yes," Sasori, or Mai, replied. He threw the scroll to Deidara, who pulled it open and glanced at it to read that indeed, it did say they would disguise as a young couple in order to evade the attention of spies. Deidara groaned.

He read a bit further, "so we are traveling to the land of sound for a relaxing vacation in the peaceful village by the rice fields…and how are we supposed to gain information about this Orochimaru while pretending to…" Deidara couldn't finish his question, a fierce blush ran across his cheeks. He had never had a lover before in his life, so how was he supposed to pretend to love this strange, impatient and domineering man whom he knew so little about?

"Just follow my lead, Daichi." The puppet woman walked over to Deidara and pulled the scroll from him, tucking it away in a pocket in her kimono. Then she reached out for Deidara's hand and grabbed it firmly, pulling Deidara along towards the village.

"This doesn't seem very womanly-like, hm" Deidara pointed out as he was practically being dragged along by Sasori.

"You haven't had much experience with women I can see," Sasori replied. Deidara was about to respond his indignation, but Sasori cut him off, "like I said, follow my lead and hold your tongue. You ask too many questions for my liking."

They arrived into the village and checked into a small motel. Deidara was embarrassed again at how Mai handled the money exchange, talking lightly and smiling coolly with the receptionist. Sasori hid his own persona perfectly as he acted the part of the confident and cheerful maiden. The young man was easily charmed by her good looks, and led the couple to a nice room in the corner, where they could enjoy privacy and comfort. Deidara barely spoke a word as he followed, unsure of how to act.

Deidara took a look around the single room, the bed was king sized, and he sighed his relief. _I can sleep at the edge of the bed and never worry about that old man brushing up against me, hm,_ he thought as he plopped down on the soft bed. "So," he started, "what's our next move then, hm?"

Mai looked at him with narrowed eyes, "let's walk around the village, there's a marketplace not far. We can eavesdrop, see what information we find."

Deidara nodded, and got back up. They headed for the door, but Mai placed a hand over Deidara's chest before they walked out. "remember to stay in character," she said, "hold my hand and laugh at my jokes. At least try to act like you like me, don't just stare at me blankly like I'm a stranger."

Deidara felt his cheeks heat up again, his eyebrows furrowed in irritation, "Well you are a stranger to me!" he yelled.

"It's called _acting,_ it's all _pretend._ Calm down and just enjoy going to the market, don't think so hard about it," Mai suggested. Deidara grumbled, and took a deep breath. _If I want to prove my worth to the akatsuki, I have to follow through on this mission, no matter how irksome it may be_ he thought begrudgingly.

They strolled through the bustling marketplace, holding hands in a laid back manner. Mai led Deidara, or Daichi as he was being called, towards several stands, eyeing the food and items with a small smile. Deidara made sure to smile himself, and he found that he was actually enjoying looking at all the people and admiring the sweet smells of the exotic foods. It had been a long time since he had relaxed and enjoyed the company of a village, since he had defected from his own land.

Mai purchased a red bean filled rice ball for Daichi, and they sat together on a little bench, watching the passersby. Deidara wondered for a split second why Mai had not bought a rice ball for herself, but it struck him that a puppet probably did not have to eat. So Mai held onto Daichi's arm, with a strange look of desire in her eyes, while he munched away. She lifted her face up to his ear and whispered softly, "I hope you are listening."

Deidara perked up his ears, noticing who Sasori was referring to. There were three men standing nearby, talking heatedly.

One man was stout and sported a large graying beard, "The chunin exams are being held in Konoha this year, they should be an exciting event to watch" he said.

A younger man with a smug look on his round face replied, "eh- the last round of exams was a disappointment, nothing exciting to watch in my opinion. I don't think Konoha will have any good tricks up their sleeves."

"It's not just about the tasks that the genin have to go through, the excitement is about who is competing, and who to bet on," said the third man, rubbing his hands together to indicate money.

The stout man spoke again, "I hear a lot of good talk about that Uchiha kid,"

"I thought all the Uchiha were killed by that traitor of the clan," said the young man, his smug look was replaced by confusion.

"All but one," replied the large man with the beard, "he left his younger brother behind, and now that brother will be competing to become a chunin. It should be an interesting show indeed."

"And we're sending a few genin from our village as well, right?" asked the third man.

"Yes, that's right," said the bearded fellow, "they seem to have come out of nowhere, from the woodwork as they say."

"Hmm," the man had a smug look on his face again, "very curious, don't you think? Our village has never sent in genin before."

Daichi was staring at the three of them, the mention of the name Uchiha had caught his attention and momentarily he forgot to act the part of a young lover. His eyes narrowed with rage at the mention of that name, and then he gasped quietly upon realizing that Itachi had a younger brother. _Maybe this young brother could be a key towards finding his weakness, hm!_ He thought to himself, quietly scheming a plot in his mind.

The three men noticed the attention of Daichi, and they eyed him suspiciously, slowing their conversation to a halt. Before they could pose any accusations towards the eavesdroppers sitting on the bench, Mai gave a high pitched giggle. She placed her hand on Daichi's cheek and pulled his face towards her own.

Deidara felt his heart pounding in his ears as Sasori, or Mai, kissed him on the lips. _This puppet face feels so real! But I thought puppets were made from wood? Her lips feel warm, like real human flesh._ His thoughts and questions raced through his mind, as the puppet woman's lips pushed against his. Her hand was in his blonde hair, twirling it mindlessly with one finger. Deidara could hear the awkward shuffled footsteps of the three men behind them, as they looked away and continued their conversation. Deidara could not hear what they said, however, due to the intense pounding in his ears and thrumming of constant questions racking his brain.

Mai finally pulled away, keeping Daichi's face in her hands, secretly looking over his shoulder at the three men. Deidara didn't dare look back at them, he could feel his face flushed from the deep red blush. He did not expect his first kiss to come from this mysterious puppet man, disguised as a young woman. He took a deep breath to calm his heightened nerves. Then he was able to hear again.

"-I still think the Uchiha boy will be fun to watch, you wait and see," it was the bearded man talking again, "I don't much care for gambling, but my bet would be on him."

"Anyways," said the gambling man, "we should get back to it. The old man will have our heads if we're late." With that the three of them sauntered away.

Mai finally let her hand down from Daichi's face, and took his hand in hers again. "let's go back to our room," she said promptly, "I've had enough sightseeing for today." She said it in a sweet voice, but Deidara knew he had nearly ruined their cover back there. He did not look forward to the lecture he was sure to receive once back in the motel room.

Sure enough, Sasori yelled at Deidara for being daft and nearly losing his façade in front of those men. They were on the cusp of learning pertinent information, and Deidara had nearly blown it.

"If you really want to enact revenge on Itachi though, his brother won't be able to help you. Itachi hates his little brother, he only left him alive as a challenge for himself one day. What you really need is to learn how to counter his genjutsu." Sasori told him after his long winded lecture.

Deidara was a little surprised hearing this information, "why are you trying to help me?" he asked, "and how do you know I want revenge on the Uchiha hm?"

"Your reactions are easy to read. You gave Itachi a cold stare after he defeated you, and I can sense that you still haven't recovered from that battle. As much as you or I don't like it, we are partners now, so it would be in our best interests to help each other out. That's why I'm telling you to train yourself against genjutsu, find another way to bring him down." Sasori explained. There was still a twinge of annoyance to his voice, but he had brought down the angry tone from before.

Deidara blinked, considering this advice. Before he could speak, Sasori added with a smirk, "oh by the way, not bad for your first kiss. You still need practice though."

Deidara's face turned beet red again, "hey!" he yelled, "how do you know that was my first kiss, hm!?"

Mai gave a quirky smile, "your reaction, again, just gave it away."

"Urgh!" Deidara was fuming mad and embarrassed, real words were hard to form at this moment. "I ought to show you the brilliance of my art! I'll blow your _eternal_ puppets into smithereens hm!"

Mai laughed, "calm down. Stay here in the room for a while, I'll be back later."

"What?" Deidara was confused by the sudden change in conversation, "where are you going?"

"I have a spy on Orochimaru, remember? I'm going to meet up with him, confirm a few questions I have…but this spy will only meet with me. So you'll have to stay here." He explained.

Deidara was fuming, "I thought we were partners, hm. Fine, go ahead but don't take too long."

"I don't like to be kept waiting, this won't take long at all," said Sasori. With that, he left the room, leaving a disgruntled and angered Deidara behind.

Deidara became easily bored sitting alone in the room, so he began to create a plan for countering genjutsu. He would need to train his eyes against it, so he began drawing up a prototype for a scope. The scope would allow him to see things far away, since he was a long distance fighter, and it would help him to train his eye against Itachi's jutsu.

As he drew, he thought about Sasori, about how frustrating he was, always barking around orders and taking the lead with this mission. Deidara didn't like the way he treated him, like he was some naïve child. He felt impatient with this mission, as though he was given an easy, pointless job for his first assignment as an akatsuki member. _And yet,_ he thought sourly, _I'm having a difficult time acting the part and spying…it's that damn Sasori's fault, hm! He's bringing me down! I need to do things my own way!_

Sasori arrived back within 2 hours, Deidara barely looked up from his drawing, still feeling cross. Sasori peeked over at Deidara's notepad, looking at his prototype.

"Can I suggest a few modifications?" he said.

Deidara pulled the notepad close to his chest, away from the prying eyes of the puppet master. "You don't even know what this is!"

"It's a scope, right? Because you're a long distance fighter, and you think this will help you to train against genjutsu as well." Sasori guessed. Deidara clenched his teeth together, and Sasori sighed, "look, I don't like you either brat. But like I said before, we're partners. I made a bunch of modifications to my puppets, I could take a look at your scope and help. But if you don't want my help, then that's fine." The puppet Mai threw up her hands, giving off a whatever-I-don't-care kind of look.

Deidara rolled his eyes and handed the notepad to Sasori, who looked it over and penciled in a few things. "here," Sasori showed him. Deidara and Sasori then spoke for a few minutes about the scope, working together to draw up the perfect model. Deidara forgot to ask about Sasori's meeting with the spy as they got into the details about the function and use of the scope. As much as he hated to admit it, Sasori's suggestions were actually quite helpful. They talked about it in detail, and for the first time since they had met, their conversation went smoothly, without argument or sarcastic remarks.

"that should do it," Deidara said, looking down at the drawing. It was perfect.

"you're welcome," Sasori said, getting up from his chair, "now, it's getting late. You should get to bed."

Deidara hadn't even noticed the time, but it was indeed quite late. He eyed the bed, "which side do you want?"

Sasori chuckled, "puppets don't sleep."

"So what are you going to do? Watch me as I sleep?"

Sasori sneered, "You think I'd be interested in doing that? You selfish brat, I will be doing no such thing. I'm going to go for a walk, search the village."

"Well, what if something happens to you?" Deidara asked.

"Nothing will happen to me, I'm a top shinobi, the greatest puppet master of our time! I am Sasori of the red sand!" Sasori seemed enraged by Deidara's insinuations.

Deidara was surprised that he had made Sasori upset, he had touched a nerve, "calm down," he told him, repeating Sasori's words from earlier with a snicker.

Sasori sighed, "go to sleep," he ordered. He walked out of the room, careful not to slam the door behind him. Deidara smiled to himself, _Sasori of the red sand?_ He wondered where he had gotten that nickname. He yawned just then, he couldn't deny he was tired. He snuggled up on the bed, glad to have the entire mattress to himself. He dozed off quickly, strange images of puppets floated through his dreams.


	2. Chapter 2

Deidara woke up the next morning when he felt something light tap on his face. He felt it again, this time a bit harder. "hm, what's that?" he yawned as he got up. He saw two crumbled up pieces of paper on the bed, Sasori had thrown them at his face to wake him up. Deidara glanced at the clock, it was half past eight.

"Finally," Sasori said from the corner of the room, "I was wondering when you'd get up. You must be a deep sleeper."

"Huh?" Deidara rubbed his eyes, "I thought you were gone all night?"

"There wasn't much to see, this town was near empty last night. I came back here and worked on more puppet modifications." Sasori explained. He brushed back some of the brown puppet hair from his face.

Deidara blushed a little, feeling self conscious that Sasori had indeed watched over him as he slept. He got up from the bed and stretched. His stomach gave a loud growl.

"Food on the table," Sasori said, not looking up from the puppet hand he was examining. Deidara saw that Sasori had made some breakfast for him, there were two eggs and some toast.

After eating, Sasori and Deidara prepared themselves for the day. Mai and Daichi walked out of the motel into the bustling crowd. "Where are we going today?" Daichi asked, in a rather haughty tone. He wasn't going to let Mai do everything today.

"Let's go check out the Hana Castle," Mai said with a cheerful voice. Deidara wondered what kind of information they would gather from this castle.

They took a tour of the castle, walking in it and admiring the artwork and culture. Deidara's wonders on the importance of this trip soon faded, as he marveled at the castle's glory. _This castle is from ancient times, it would be so wonderful to see it explode, my art could make this great castle burst with splendor for a few seconds, but everyone would remember it for a lifetime, hm!_

Mai and Daichi enjoyed the tour, talking lightly with the other tourists. They giggled and held hands, acting drunk with love for each other. Deidara was beginning to realize that this walking tour was just for show, just to demonstrate to others that they were indeed travelers, and not spies.

When the tour of the castle was over, they hung back in a flower garden, smelling the flowers. Deidara enjoyed flowers very much, they were beautiful for a moment in time, and then they withered away. It was the perfect art form, beautiful for an instant, just before its death.

Daichi inhaled deeply one of the red roses, "Smell these Mai, they're gorgeous," he said.

She took the rose from Daichi and placed it to her nose. _Hm, I'm not even sure if the puppet can smell_ Deidara's internal thoughts were always rambling. "Lovely," Mai said and then kissed him on the cheek. There were a few other people around them in the garden.

One of the other tourists that had been with them through the Hana Castle tour walked up to them and said, "Koma and I are going to get drinks later tonight, you two should join us." His name was Akira, his girlfriend Koma smiled at them. They had overheard Daichi and Mai's conversation about the chunin exams from earlier, Akira added, "I'd like to talk more with you two about the chunin exams, perhaps we can discuss bets over our drinks."

Daichi looked at Mai and asked, "What do you think darling? That sounds like fun to me."

Mai nodded with a smile, "Yes," she said in a cool voice, "that would be lovely." They made plans for a time and place to meet up and then they left, heading back to their motel room.

As they entered the room, Sasori began speaking about the plan, "I'd like to confirm tonight my suspicions about the genin from this village," he said.

"What are your suspicions?"

"I suspect they trained under Orochimaru himself. Although I am not sure why he's entering his own genin into the chunin exams…It could be that he has a bigger plan behind all this."

"What exactly does this have to do with the akatsuki?" Deidara wondered.

"It may have nothing to do with us, or it may intercept our plans. We don't know that yet." Sasori said, "the akatsuki will soon be hunting out the tailed beasts, and we can't let that pesky Orochimaru get in our way…he already knows about the akatsuki's plan since he was once a member…so our purpose here is to make sure that his plan with this chunin exam will not hinder our own. There is a young jinchuriki living in Konoha, Orochimaru might be plotting to take him or kill him during this exam."

Deidara nodded that he understood, "do you think Akira and Koma will know anything about that?"

"They might know more about these genin, yes. From the way they were speaking earlier, it seems they have a secret." Sasori said.

Mai and Daichi arrived at the small restaurant a few minutes before 8, and secured a table in the back of the room, secluded from others. Mai flashed a charming smile at the waiter, along with a seductive wink and ordered some sake. The waiter did not ask her age, but promptly went to get their drinks.

"You're pretty good at acting as a temptress," Deidara told him.

"Shh," Mai silenced him, "here they come."

Akira and Koma sauntered into the restaurant and joined them at the table, greeting them. The waiter came in and sat down a large bottle of sake. "oh mmm just in time!" Akira said, smacking his lips. He poured a drink for the four of them and took a sip.

Deidara had never had an alcoholic drink before, being so young. He wasn't sure if he would like the taste of sake, but instantly enjoyed the feeling of the warm drink as it passed his lips.

"So how are you two liking this cozy village of ours?" Koma asked them.

"It's great, we've enjoyed ourselves so far," Daichi said in a deep voice. He took another sip of the sake, enjoying it immensely.

"That's good to hear," Akira said, "we don't get too many visitors anymore."

"Oh?" Mai seemed curious, "and why is that? I thought the land of sound was a peaceful one?"

"It is, or was…" Koma began.

Akira continued for her after another gulp of sake, "the land of sound is home to many different shinobi clans. They are peaceful clans, but have been used by others for war and have been suffering. A newcomer came along recently, he promised power to help revive these clans."

"A newcomer?" Daichi wondered.

"Yes, we don't know who he is exactly, only that he is very powerful. He convinced our Feudal Lord to allow the set up for a hidden shinobi village. I've heard rumors that some people from various clans have joined him, seeking power." Akira explained.

Daichi took another sip of the sake, beginning to feel the effects of the alcohol. His head buzzed a little, and his face felt warm. "A powerful man, hm. But how does this affect the tourist attractions?"

"Well, the people in our village just don't act the same anymore…not as hospitable. People are more wary of others now, some feel overconfident with having new shinobi. People are very proud that we will actually have shinobi from our village competing in the chunin exams." Akira stated.

"So this powerful man raised up some genin for the exam?" Mai asked, batting her eyes.

"Yes," Koma said, shooting Mai daggers with her eyes, suspicious of her intentions towards Akira. Koma moved closer to her boyfriend, placing a hand on his shoulder. Deidara noticed this movement, and he quickly scooted closer to Mai and gave her a soft kiss on the cheek, as if to reassure Koma that there was nothing to worry about.

"Anyways," Daichi said, continuing the conversation and avoiding an awkward silence, "do you believe these new genin will do well?"

"That's the name of the game, Daichi!" Akira said excitedly, "I'm willing to bet all my money on our three genin, Dosu, Kin and Zaku."

"Hm, I'll take you on!" Daichi responded, "I think the Konoha's Uchiha child will outsmart them all, I've heard great things about him." Deidara wanted to see their reaction to the name Uchiha.

Akira rolled his eyes, "so you've heard about him too, eh? A lot of rumors surround that child."

"Yes," Koma agreed, "I met with Dosu personally, he is very determined to beat the Uchiha."

"You know one of the genin?" Mai asked, surprised.

"Yes, he's a few years my junior, friends with my younger brother." She responded.

"Interesting," Daichi said, "I don't know much about the Uchiha kid save for the rumors, but if you could tell me more about Dosu, then I might be willing to change my bet."

"Ah, that would not be fair, you're supposed to go into the games with limited knowledge and learn about the genin as you watch their matches unfold, that's part of the fun!" Akira said. The drinks seemed to be going to his head a little bit.

"Well, at least clue us in on the type of training he's had," Daichi said, "maybe if we knew more about this mysterious leader…"

"All I know is that they have an elite training ground, very top secret on the outskirts of the village near the forest." Koma said, "that's really all we know. Dosu won't tell me anything about his training."

Deidara considered this information, thinking to himself how easy it was to dig out the useful pieces of intel from these two idiots. He took another sip of his sake while his thoughts swayed in his brain. He felt his cheeks grow warmer from the drink, and the buzzing in his brain intensified. Mai glanced over at him from the sides of her eyes, she grabbed his hand in hers. Deidara's hand felt slightly tingly. _What a strange feeling, hm!_ His thoughts were a little muddled.

"I would still place my bets on the Uchiha," Mai said, picking the conversation back up, "but I've never really been a gambling girl. Daichi, I've never seen you gamble either."

"Oh c'mon!" Akira pleaded, "let's make this interesting! We're all going to be watching the exams, we can meet up afterwards, exchange money then!"

"Yes!" Daichi said, a little too loudly, "we will definitely be there!" He hiccupped just then. "and we'll definitely be victorious, hm!" He took another sip of the warm sake.

"Shh, calm down," Mai said in a slightly irritated tone, "you've had enough to drink."

"Hm, I'm just starting!" Daichi poured himself another drink and downed it in one shot. He could feel the room beginning to spin. _Oh no,_ he thought, _maybe I shouldn't have drank it so fast…_

Mai was speaking with Akira and Koma again, but the buzzing in Deidara's ears prevented him from tuning into their conversation. Feeling quite drunk, he laid back in his seat, deciding that Sasori could take it from here. Deidara had done his part, he thought confidently.

Deidara focused his attention on the dim lights in the room, which seemed to be spinning and swaying, as if he was on a rocking ship. Deidara closed his eyes, trying to get a grip. He opened them again only to find that the room was spinning more intensely than before. He felt that he had to get up, he suddenly felt suffocated sitting in the hot room.

Daichi got up quite suddenly, interrupting the conversation, "I-I need some fresh air," he stated, hiccupping again.

Koma giggled into her hand, "don't tell me this is his first drink," she said to Mai.

Deidara felt a rush of fury against the silly girl, "don't be daft, I'm just tired of this company," Daichi said rather rudely before walking away. Mai apologized for his behavior, Deidara could hear her saying something about "too many drinks" and "it's been a while" over his shoulder before he exited the building. He didn't care much what happened at that moment, he just knew that he needed to get away quickly.

Deidara stumbled out of the restaurant and threw up along the side of the building. Luckily, no one was around to see him. He wiped his mouth, disgusted with himself. He did feel a little better now, but he was angry with Sasori again. _That damn old man, letting me drink all that sake and act a fool! I'll show him, I'm going to end this now!_

Still feeling quite tipsy, yet sure of his decision, Deidara walked away towards the forest, eager to find Orochimaru's hideout.

Deidara found himself stumbling around the forest for quite some time before he came upon an entrance to an underground building, right below a large tree. _Hm, that wasn't so hard to find!_ Deidara thought. He walked forward carelessly, still feeling confident from the liquid courage.

Deidara took only a few steps forward before a ninja stepped in his way. She was short, very young. Her long black hair almost reached to the ground and her black eyes stared menacingly at Deidara. "Don't take another step," she warned.

Deidara rolled his eyes. Under normal circumstances, he might have continued his ploy at Daichi, made up an excuse about getting lost in the woods and apologized. But at that moment, Deidara felt like having a good fight against this genin.

"Pff, what do you think you're gonna do about it, hm?" He asked her.

She gritted her teeth, "I don't like the looks of you," she said. Then, she pulled out senbon, or metal needles with points on both ends, from her pocket. "This is your last warning," she said, "leave before I hurt you."

"I doubt you could," Deidara remarked, "what's your name girl?"

"I am Kin, a genin and student under the great Orochimaru!" she said with overconfidence.

"Hm, is he really that great?" Deidara mused, he enjoyed annoying this mere child, "I've heard your name before, you know. They say you'll be competing in these chunin exams."

"That's right!" she said, seeming to forget about striking him with her senbon. "And I alone will defeat Sasuke Uchiha!"

"You alone you say?" she didn't notice that Deidara's hand was currently occupied in his bag full of detonating clay. "Why is everyone so keen on defeating that Uchiha hm?"

"It's a personal order from Orochimaru himself," she admitted, still brimming with confidence.

 _So that's his play, huh?_ Deidara thought, _Orochimaru wants to kill the Uchiha, or perhaps test his abilities. Either way, he has his eyes set on him for some reason._

Deidara pulled out his hand to reveal three small spiders that he had formed from clay. Kin was shocked, "what's that?" she asked, holding up the senbon in front of her face.

"Be prepared to be amazed by my art!" Deidara cried. He threw the spiders at her and stepped back, preparing to detonate them. Kin stepped away from the spiders, but she was still in the range of attack as they exploded magnificently.

Deidara grinned from behind his hiding spot, hoping to find that she and the hideout had been blown away. However, when the smoke dissipated, Deidara was shocked to find that Kin was nowhere to be seen and the hideout was standing still. The trees in the surrounding area had been blown away. Deidara himself had hidden behind a tree quite a distance from the hideout, and he peeked out to see who had saved the genin girl.

A man with silver hair and glasses stood there with an arm raised. It seems he had used some special jutsu to defend against the explosion, saving the hideout. He surveyed the area, and said "you can come out now, Kin." She walked out from the hideout, climbing up the stairs timidly.

"Tell me what happened," the silver haired man demanded. Before Kin could respond, Deidara slowly crept away backwards, slyly headed back towards the village.

The rush of adrenaline had erased all traces of alcohol through his system, Deidara ran back towards the restaurant as fast as his feet would carry him. He sat back at the table next to Mai, out of breath and pink in the face from his run.

"What the hell happened to you?" Mai asked, with a more Sasori like tone. Koma and Akira did not notice, they both seemed glazed over from the sake.

"We should go now darling, I really don't feel well," Daichi replied. Mai nodded. They paid their portion of the bill, making up excuses to the other couple, lying to them that they would meet up again soon.

Once back in the motel room, Deidara confessed everything that had happened. Sasori blinked a few times, but did not interrupt. When Deidara had revealed everything, Sasori finally responded. Deidara expected him to yell, but he was quite calm as he said, "our job here is done, let's leave this village now before Orochimaru comes looking for us."

Deidara nodded, and they quickly picked up their belongings. They left the motel quietly, paying the bill still in character. When they had finally gotten a mile away from the village, they hopped back onto one of Deidara's clay birds and took off into the night sky without so much as a whisper.

"Good work," Pain said once they had rendezvoused with the rest of the akatsuki members. "You located Orochimaru's hideout and confirmed his plan. No further action needs to be taken at this moment."

"We know his plan is to target the Uchiha boy, but we don't know why," Deidara said, confused. He thought there would be a follow up mission to this one, perhaps he would be able to show off his art at the chunin exam.

"Sasuke Uchiha is of no concern to me. Orochimaru may do as he pleases with him. No doubt he is going to target him as his next vessel, since his plan to obtain Itachi as a vessel failed. I was worried he would attempt to steal the jinchuriki from Konoha, but it seems his purpose greatly differs from the akatsuki. We will move on from this matter," Pain responded. "Thank you again for the prompt information, Sasori. We can always count on you when time is of the essence."

"It was Deidara who found the hideout," Sasori admitted, "Direct your gratitude towards him."

Pain nodded in Deidara's direction, "thank you. Now, I must take my leave. You will be called upon when it's time for your next mission." Pain walked out of the room, followed closely by the girl named Konan.

Deidara was left slightly stunned. He couldn't believe that Sasori told Pain that he had found the hideout. He was more surprised that they would apparently have time off. "So now what hm?" he asked.

"Rest up, train, do what you like," Sasori said with a deep grumble. He was wearing the Hiruko armor again.

"When will you show me what you really look like, hm?" Deidara asked.

Sasori did not respond, he walked away slowly towards the door. Before he exited, he turned his head and said, "you may be annoying, but you're not the worst partner."

Deidara opened his mouth to retort, but Sasori was already gone. _I'm not sure if that was a compliment or an insult, hm._

Over the next few weeks, Deidara occupied his time mostly with training. He created more detonating clay and practiced new techniques. He trained his eye against genjutsu, and learned how to use his long distance scope that he and Sasori invented.

Deidara and Sasori began training together as well. They figured since they were partners, they should learn each other's strengths and weaknesses. Deidara soon learned of the many hidden weapons of Sasori's Hiruko armor, as well as his fighting techniques and styles. Sasori never removed himself from the armor, never revealed his true form. After a while, Deidara stopped asking him about it. They often argued about their different views on art, bantering back and forth on whether art should be eternal or a brief, flashing moment. However, Deidara began to respect Sasori, realizing his true talent as a shinobi and revering his passion for art. Sasori's snide remarks were still regular, but Deidara became used to them. Sasori eventually grew respect for Deidara as well. As he watched Deidara's battle tactics and spoke strategy with him, he realized his value as an akatsuki member.

Pain sent the duo on small missions, to gather more intel or help organize various details of a plan. Deidara was steadily becoming bored of these minuscule missions, but Pain reassured him that they would reach their goal within the next 3 years, and that if he waited patiently he would soon be on a big mission to capture a tailed beast.

A few months went by before Pain asked them to do a large mission. Deidara was 17 now, a birthday had recently passed by. Deidara and Sasori met with two other members of the akatsuki to hear the details of their new mission, as Pain was predisposed elsewhere. Deidara was ready to take on this large mission, which Kakuzu and Hidan said would spread the reputation of the akatsuki.

"So what exactly do we have to do?" Deidara asked with anticipation.

"It's a simple war mission," Hidan said, "you are to go to the Land of This and destroy it."

Deidara felt a rush of excitement spread through his veins. This was the perfect mission to show off his art, to use his new explosion techniques. _Sasori's skills won't even be needed, he'll see how truly amazing my art is as I explode away the village with one hit hm! Then he'll have true respect for me and my art._ Deidara grinned to himself.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's note: I hope you guys like the story so far, the connection between Deidara and Sasori is a slow one in my opinion, so the buildup will take a little longer than what you might be used to reading. Yet it will be worth it! Soon they will realize their feelings for each other, all in good time. Please feel free to leave any comments/reviews.

…

 **Boom! Crash!** The sound of Deidara's art as it hit the ground of the Land of This rang through his ears from atop his white bird in the sky. After the first drop of explosives, the town sounded an alarm, and people were frantically trying to escape. They looked like tiny ants from Deidara's view. He chewed up more detonating clay in his hand's mouth, and then formed some spiders. The spiders fell to the ground, growing in size until they hit their target, and **boom!**

The intense feeling of adrenaline rushing through his veins, the wind from each blast, the cries of the people- this is what being part of the akatsuki meant to Deidara. He felt truly alive at that moment. He thought about Sasori, who was waiting about a mile away, a safe enough distance. _Now Sasori can admire my art, he'll be truly amazed hm!_

Deidara dropped a few more explosives, and then turned his bird around towards Sasori's hiding spot. He landed next to him, and Sasori grumbled, "I don't like to be kept waiting. Is it my turn to finish off the rest yet?"

"Weren't you amazed by the brilliance of my art, hm?" Deidara asked, somewhat annoyed by Sasori's impatience.

"Yes yes," Sasori brushed aside his question, "Now take me over there, and I'll show you the beauty of my eternal puppets." Sasori climbed up on Deidara's bird, and Deidara led him to the decaying village. Most of the people were dead or had escaped by now, but there were still some people scrambling around the village, looking for other survivors.

Sasori slid off of Deidara's bird in the middle of the village, and Deidara flew up a bit higher. _Let's see what he can do, hm._

The scene that played out in front of Deidara's eyes astounded him. Sasori pulled out a scroll and summoned his puppets. Deidara had seen Sasori do this before, but he had never seen so many of the puppets appear at one time. There had to be at least 100 of them.

Next, Sasori removed the armor of his Hiruko puppet. The armor was then sealed back into a scroll, quickly and swiftly. Deidara's eyes grew wide as he looked upon the true form of Sasori for the first time.

Sasori had a mess of beautiful red hair, this was the first thing that Deidara noticed. _Sasori of the red sand he said…maybe that nickname has something to do with that bright red hair, hm!_ The next thing Deidara noticed was how young Sasori was, which was quite confusing. _From the way he talks and acts, I thought he had been in the akatsuki for some time…but his body looks just as young as mine!_

Deidara swooped in a little lower to scrutinize Sasori's figure more. It was then that he noticed with shock that Sasori's body itself was a puppet! His hands were held up in the air, manipulating the 100 puppets with chakra strings, and Deidara could see the notches on his fingers, indicating that they were puppet fingers. His chest had a round cavity over where his heart should be, it was filled with what looked like a thick, fleshy scroll. It seemed as though there were various compartments all around Sasori's small body, no doubt holding weapons.

Sasori's fingers moved dexterously, positioning all the puppets into an attack stance. From there, each puppet began to attack the remaining villagers, slicing through them with ease and finesse. Deidara could not deny that Sasori's artwork had a certain allure to it; he was fascinated by how Sasori could manipulate each puppet with his skillful hands. He made the artwork look simple.

Sasori's wide brown eyes grew wide as his puppets swayed and fought mercilessly. A small grin appeared on Sasori's face, he was caught up in this moment, enjoying each deft movement. Deidara was stunned by Sasori's work, and especially by his appearance. Deidara could not deny it, he had to admit that Sasori was truly beautiful. _His body itself is true art, hm!_ Deidara felt his cheeks blush just from the thought.

Sasori's puppets finished off the remaining villagers in a matter of minutes. The aftermath of both Deidara and Sasori's attacks lay before them, just an empty, desolate shell of what was once a big, bustling village. The scene left Deidara slightly breathless.

He swooped down and slid off his bird to stand next to Sasori, who was working on placing the puppets back into the scrolls. Deidara watched him silently, for the first time in his life, he did not know what to say.

"Pretty amazing, huh?" Sasori said with a smirk. He glanced over at Deidara. Deidara felt his cheeks redden again as he stared into those dreamy brown eyes. Sasori's eyes had softened now that the attack was over, they seemed hazy, as if he was in a dream.

"I have to admit that was pretty amazing, hm!" Deidara finally managed to say. He then added, "my art is still more powerful though!"

"Hmm, whatever you say. That's one thing you and I will never agree about." Sasori admitted. He had pulled in all the puppets back to their scrolls, and he stood before Deidara, in the most exposed form he had ever seen.

"Now," Sasori said, "I just need to find the feudal lord and destroy him as well."

"Huh?" Deidara was surprised, "I thought we were just supposed to destroy the village, our mission is done."

"You are still so naïve, young Deidara," Sasori shook his head, but he couldn't hide his slight smile, "I would like to crush that feudal lord on my own. You can report back to Pain if you'd like."

Deidara shrugged, "Fine, go kill the feudal lord, I don't care. Meet up with me here when you're finished." Sasori nodded, and then turned and ran towards the feudal lord's castle, which was a mile or so outside of the destroyed village, within sight of where they stood.

Once Sasori was out of sight, Deidara sat down in the dirt, careful not to sit on any blood, and sighed. He honestly needed a moment away from Sasori, so he could get his thoughts straight. _Why do I feel this way?_ He thought to himself, _he's just my akatsuki partner, I shouldn't feel nervous now that I've seen how he looks. He's just so…amazing! I wonder if his body still feels human-like? Is his flesh warm and soft? Is it even flesh anymore?_

Deidara pounded his fists against his head, trying to ignore his persistent thoughts about Sasori's body. _When he kissed me as Mai, his lips felt truly real, they were soft and plump like a real human being! Can he preserve that feeling, that softness of his puppets? If so, is his own body still warm, still smooth? Why do I have the urge all of a sudden to find out?_

The thoughts and questions swam forth in Deidara's mind, running endless circles around his brain. To distract himself, he created small clay figurines and watched them walk harmlessly along the dirt. He did not set them off to explode, it would be a waste of his art while no one was watching. For the time being, he just enjoyed the little creatures as they explored the blood soaked ground.

As he watched his little creatures roam the earth, his lustful thoughts transformed into annoyance and anger. _Why doesn't Sasori respect me, or notice me? I admitted to him that he is a skillful and powerful shinobi, but he still treats me like I'm some inexperienced child!_ Then he had a flashback of what Sasori said to Pain after their first mission together, that Pain should be thankful to Deidara for his efforts. _Hmm…he was sincere at that time…maybe he just doesn't want to admit to me that I'm a powerful shinobi? He did help me build my scope, and we trained together countless times…does that mean he respects me and my art? He hasn't said so openly, but maybe he never will…_

Deidara shook his head, he was never going to find out his answers like this. Yet, the thought of asking any of these questions to Sasori intimidated him. He decided he would have to be patient and wait. If Deidara wanted to learn more about Sasori, he would have to simply wait until Sasori was ready to reveal those secrets. Deidara gave a heavy sigh as he finally saw Sasori's red hair bobbing in the distance, coming back at last.

…

When they returned to the akatsuki headquarters, Sasori had hidden himself again in his Hiruko armor. Pain was pleased with their work, and he dismissed them to do as they pleased. "I have sent Kakuzu and Hidan out to search for a tailed beast. I have a lead on where another beast might be hiding. Once I have a better idea of where the tailed beast is, I will send you out on a mission to capture it," he assured them.

Deidara was excited by this possibility of chasing down a tailed beast soon. He had been waiting to do this since he joined the akatsuki and learned about the tailed beasts existence. He was eager to see the power that these beasts and their jinchuriki held. Deidara noticed that Sasori too seemed excited, although he attempted to hide his excitement with a shrug and a grunt.

….

It would be another few months before Pain pinpointed the location of most of the jinchuriki. Deidara and Sasori were sent on small missions during that time. Deidara learned a few things about Sasori here and there, slowly peeling back the layers of this mysterious man. He learned that Sasori was from the village hidden in the sand, that his nickname "Sasori of the red sand" actually had nothing to do with his hair, it was given to him during the third shinobi world as he turned the sand red with blood. This lead Deidara to asking how old Sasori was, and he admitted that he was in his 30s, but had retained his teenage form as an immortalized puppet. Deidara learned that the cylinder shaped device over Sasori's heart was the real human part of him. In a sense, it was his core, his true heart and soul. Deidara was amazed that Sasori had somehow placed all of his necessary human parts into a little cylinder in the cavity in his chest.

Despite all these astonishing facts that Deidara discovered about Sasori, he still wondered about so much more. Deidara was hungry for the answers that Sasori would not give. How did Sasori become interested in the art of puppetry? Why did he leave the village hidden in the sand? Who did he leave behind? What was his childhood like? Why did he stay hidden beneath his armor most of the time? Did his puppet form feel real, like a human? Deidara pondered many things, and yearned for answers. Deidara was determined, in time, to find out all of Sasori's hidden secrets.

…

Author Notes: This chapter was a little shorter than the others, but I'm building up to some good stuff here. Pretty soon there will be more dialogue between them as some of Deidara's questions get answered. Comments/reviews are welcome, thanks!


	4. Chapter 4

Deidara never suspected that they would return to the land of Earth in order to capture the next jinchuriki. His name was Han, the jinchuriki of the five tailed beast, and he lived in the village hidden in the stones. As Deidara's hometown, he felt a sense of nostalgia as he and Sasori rode into the land on top of one of his white birds. They hid themselves in the forest, devising a plan.

Sasori and Deidara agreed that it would be beneficial for Han to be lured out of the village, so that they could capture him easily with no others around trying to foil their plan. They discussed in detail various methods of luring him out of the village, and it was decided that Sasori should go disguised as one of his puppets. It was too risky for Deidara to go into the village that he had deserted, he might easily be recognized and cause trouble.

"So, how are you going to find him, hm?" Deidara asked.

"Well, I'll have to go under the pretext that I am a fellow villager, and I'll sneak around and scope out his location. Once I know more about him, I'll approach him myself and find a reason for him to follow me out of the village." Sasori replied.

"What?!" Deidara said, "That's your plan? I thought you were man of details, it sounds like you're just going to wing it hm!"

Sasori nodded, "I am normally more meticulous than this, but there are many factors I don't know yet about this man. We don't know his strength or his power, we don't know his personality or his weaknesses. I'll have to do a bit of scoping around to find out more about him before I figure out what it is that will lure him away."

"Hmm, I see," said Deidara, "so you don't know how long it will take you then? It could take days to find out where he is…"

"Yes, it's annoying, but it may take some time."

"So what am I supposed to do, hm!?" Deidara asked, "Just stay hidden in this dank forest?"

Sasori gave a deep sigh from within his Hiruko armor, "Yes, stay here. Make more detonating clay, we might need it." Deidara caught a hint of sympathy in Sasori's deep, hoarse voice. It was as if Sasori felt bad for Deidara, leaving him here for who knows how long.

Before either of them could say another word, they heard the distinct, yet faint sound of rustling bushes, indicating that there were other people close by. Without a word, they quietly hid themselves behind a thicket of bushes, covering their tracks quickly and silently. Two shinobi from the hidden stone walked by, lightly covered with bruises, as though they had just finished a mission.

There was a man and a woman, both unrecognizable to Deidara. The man spoke up, sighing "the problem is that he is one of our greatest military weapons, we can't just let him go,"

"well, I understand that…but isn't it wrong to keep him here, held like a prisoner?" the woman asked.

"A prisoner of his own village? Psh, there's really no reason for Han to want to defect from us, besides the fact that he's a stubborn and uncooperative ass." The man responded. Deidara's eyes widened at the mention of Han, how could they be so lucky to overhear this information?

"Well, no one has any respect for him, I can see how he might want to leave…" the woman said, somewhat timidly.

"He's a jinchuriki, the beast within him is both a blessing and a curse for us! Don't you understand, he can't fully control that thing, who could? The five tails could go rampant any day and destroy all of us, and that Han isn't doing anything about that. He's a nuisance to us all, but a necessary one. If we had a war or spar with another village, his power alone could end things." The man said stubbornly. Then he added, "it sounds like you have some silly crush on him Ayame. I don't understand how, no one's ever seen the man's face, but maybe you just like them _big_ , huh?" The way he emphasized the word "big" insinuated something dirty, and Deidara's impure thoughts immediately wandered towards his own partner's…well, he couldn't even finish that thought, it made him blush so hard. He was grateful to be hiding behind the bush at that moment.

The woman scowled, turning pink in the face. She gave the man a sharp jab on the shoulder, and he cried "hey! I was only joking, ouch!"

"Don't joke about things you don't know, stupid," said the woman named Ayame.

The man held up his hands in an apologetic manner, "sorry, didn't mean to cross any boundaries. Anyways, let's go give this scroll to old man Onoki, he'll be pleased that we're a day early. Those shinobi of the hidden grass barely put up a fight."

At that moment, Sasori turned to Deidara and placed his hand over Deidara's mouth. His other hand held up a finger to his own mouth, indicating to Deidara to stay quiet. Deidara nodded. Sasori pulled out a small vial from within his Hiruko armor and slowly rolled it across the ground, until it was mere inches from the two shinobi's feet.

Ayame noticed the vial and covered her mouth, but it was too late. The poison that seeped from the vial was colorless and odorless. Before they realized what happened, both shinobi fell to the ground, fallen under the trap of Sasori's sleeping gas. Deidara and Sasori stayed hidden in the bushes, waiting for all the gas to dissipate before they moved forward. Sasori gave the signal and they walked out from their hiding spot to inspect the sleeping shinobi.

"Quick thinking," Deidara complimented, "I assume you've changed plans, and you're going to go as this Ayame hm?"

"Yes," Sasori admitted. He was already rummaging through the shinobis' pockets and belongings, looking for more clues about them.

"I'll go ahead and kill her so I can transform her into a puppet," he explained, "and I'll trick this buffoon into believing I am her, so he and I can walk through the gates as normal. It seems we have time on our hands since they finished their mission early."

"Hmm yes," Deidara said, "but you should be forewarned that Onoki is a cautious man, hm. He was once my master."

"Then I'll need you to tell me about him, everything you know," Sasori said, still not looking up from his work. The sharp metallic tail of his Hiruko puppet danced out from beneath him and pierced the girl in the heart, hitting a vital point. The poison worked fast, and she was soon dead. "A quick death, she wouldn't have felt a thing," Sasori said. "I can still do an autopsy to figure out her chakra nature and find out what type of shinobi she is. That way I'll perfect my disguise."

Deidara was impressed with Sasori's intellect and sharp wit. He told him everything he knew about his old master Onoki as Sasori got to work with determining the woman's chakra.

Sasori listened to every detail that Deidara told him, asking a few questions here and there. "Ah, of course," he said once he determined her chakra nature, "Earth chakra nature, she specialized in mud jutsu."

Deidara sneered, "not as impressive as my jutsu."

"No, certainly not," Sasori agreed, somewhat mindlessly. Deidara was shocked that Sasori had agreed with him, admitting that Deidara's technique was better than this woman's.

Deidara cleared his throat, "anyways, what's the next step to your plan?"

"I have to gut her and turn her into a puppet," Sasori said simply.

Deidara grew pale, "you have to _gut_ her insides out? Like a fish?"

"Exactly," Sasori said, pulling out his kunai. Deidara turned around, not wanting to watch such a gruesome endeavor. "You can pull that man away, make sure he doesn't wake up. Go through his belongings, find out why that scroll is so important."

Deidara was glad for this task, he grabbed the man and pulled him away, not daring to look at Sasori's work. Once a safe distance away, Deidara searched the man's belongings, easily finding the scroll. It was retrieved from the village hidden in the grass. From the looks of it, the scroll contained important information about the village hidden in the stones, and the village hidden in the grass had somehow stolen it. It was still sealed, so Deidara assumed that these two shinobi were able to retrieve the scroll back before the contents had been read.

The man began to stir, grumbling in his sleep. Deidara flinched and watched the man, ready to knock him out on the head, but the man did not open his eyes. He soon stopped moving, deep in slumber. _That sleeping gas is quite impressive, hm._

Deidara carefully pulled the man back to his original spot, leaving his belongings and the scroll intact. He covered up the tracks from dragging him on the ground, that way when the man woke up he wouldn't find anything too suspicious. Deidara glanced over at Sasori, who was still working on the bloody body. Deidara felt a shiver ran up his spine, and he looked away.

"Are you really afraid of a little blood and guts?" Sasori asked, "Haven't you ever looked upon the dismembered bodies resulting from your explosions?"

"It's different somehow…" Deidara said. He still didn't look back over at Sasori. "Does it take long?"

"No, just a few more hours and Ayame here will be reanimated as an eternal puppet." Sasori replied.

Deidara kept himself busy creating more detonating clay and watching the man to make sure he didn't wake. Sasori finished his creation after two and a half hours, but it was already dark by that time and they decided to wait until morning to enact the plan. Deidara mentioned that Onoki was suspicious of anyone trying to come into the village at night, whether they be shinobi or not.

Deidara built a small fire for them to sit around, and he took out some food to cook for himself. The man was still out cold, "how long will he be asleep?"

"I gave them a rather heavy dose of sleeping gas, he'll be out until morning." Sasori admitted. He had shed his Hiruko armor and sealed it away in a scroll, making it easier for him to transfer from his own body to Ayame's in the morning. Since Deidara rarely go to see Sasori's true form, he was looking upon him eagerly, relishing this moment. He loved the way the shadows of the firelight danced on his red hair, making it look alive. Sasori was staring at the fire with that hazy, dream-like look with his half open eyes. He looked peaceful, serene.

"So, once you find Han, what will you do?" Deidara asked while he took a bite of his rice ball.

"I'll let Han lead the conversation, but I'll suggest that the two of us run away from the village together. It seems that Ayame and Han have some sort of history together. Love is almost always one's true weakness," Sasori said.

Deidara gulped hard, _love is one's true weakness…is that why Sasori hides beneath puppets and doesn't let anyone know him?_

"Well, it's obvious that Ayame likes him, but what if Han doesn't feel the same way for her?" Deidara asked.

"I have my ways to get to him," Sasori replied, "I'll seduce him."

"Seduce him, hmm?" Deidara said, "what if he realizes you're a puppet?"

"My puppets are flawless. The seams can easily be hidden, he won't know." Sasori replied rather smugly.

"Well…do they all _feel_ humanly?" Deidara asked.

Sasori's eyes shrank a little narrower as he stared at Deidara, "what exactly do you mean by that?" he asked rather roughly, "I preserve the feel of humanity for eternity. All my puppets look and feel real, even my own body. Especially my own body."

Deidara blushed, realizing what he meant, and took a big bite of his food to calm his nerves. He gulped loudly, pushing down his big bite. Sasori added on, "what do you think I'm going to do anyhow? I don't necessarily need to sleep with this man to lure him out of the village. I may not even need to touch him at all. What exactly are you implying Deidara?" He pointed a slender finger at Deidara from across the fire.

"Hey, hey, I didn't think anything like that," Deidara said, "I was just wondering what exactly _you_ were implying when you said you would have to seduce this Han."

"I just mean I'll bat my eyelashes at him, talk dirty a little, nothing crazy," Sasori said. Then he smirked a little, "it wasn't too hard to seduce you when I played Mai."

Deidara felt his face grow hot, and it wasn't from the fire. "Huh? You think you seduced me? Yeah right," he denied it.

Sasori rolled his eyes, "I had you in the palm of my hand the moment I kissed you,"

Deidara felt his head rush as he thought back to that kiss. "Not true! I was just surprised, that's all." Deidara felt a little indignant towards Sasori, so he pulled out the sake he had stashed in his bag.

"You still drink that stuff?" Sasori asked, eyeing him carefully.

"I enjoy the taste," Deidara admitted, "I just had too much that first time, but I know my limits now. Too bad you can't enjoy the small pleasures in life."

"You call drinking sake a small pleasure?" Sasori said, laughing. "I may not need to eat or drink, but my senses are still intact. I can still taste sake, that's fine. But why would I ever want to feel the dizzying effects of being drunk?"

Deidara blinked, he never realized Sasori could still taste things. "Well, it's a little fun to feel that buzz, you don't miss that?"

"Well…to be honest I never felt drunk before. I preserved my body at a young age, and I had never tried a drink beforehand. But I don't feel like I'm missing out," Sasori said. Deidara was surprised with how honest he was being at that moment.

Deidara took a sip of the sake, feeling the warmth trickle down to his belly. "Mmm," he said, "here." He poured a cup for Sasori and handed it to him, "for the taste." Sasori nodded and took a sip, smiling slightly. Deidara took another sip and then said, "So, you can't feel drunk, although I guess it's not a huge loss. What else can't you do with your puppet body?" he asked.

"Everything is still mostly the same for me, just a little better," Sasori said.

"How so?"

"Well, I get to stay young forever, my body won't ever age. I don't feel pain either, I made sure to get rid of that sense. And I also don't ever feel tired or exhausted from battle, I can quite literally keep battling forever. I don't need to eat or sleep, and I don't have disgusting bodily functions. I can still taste, hear, see, smell and touch. I was selective with my senses, taking out the bad an leaving the good."

Deidara considered this, carefully choosing his next words, "So, you can taste food, although you don't need to eat. And you can touch and feel others, although you don't feel physical pain."

"Correct."

"So then…if you don't ever feel exhaustion, but you can feel the pleasure of all senses…you could…you could also…" Deidara didn't exactly know how to formulate his thoughts or make sense of it all. His words came out like a waterfall from his mouth that he could not stop.

"Yes?" Sasori said with a raised eyebrow, edging him on.

"You could _seduce_ someone…all night long," Deidara finished, feeling his cheeks redden once again. He took a rather large gulp of the sake, starting to feel the effects of the brain buzz.

Sasori blinked, and then to Deidara's surprise, laughed out loud. "Oh boy," he said between fits of laughter, "I never even considered that. I suppose I could."

Deidara laughed with him, feeling more confident from the sake, "So you never used that…power?" he asked.

Sasori shook his head, "of course not, fool! I'm a shinobi not a prostitute." Deidara laughed at that remark, easing his tension.

Their giggling died down after a while, and a short silence paused through the night. It wasn't an awkward silence, they still stared at each other with silly grins on their faces, having reached a moment in their relationship that they had not previously experienced. They had actually laughed together, as friends. Both of them welcomed the silence as a quiet appreciation for this precious moment.

Deidara took a few more sips of the sake, finally feeling the full effects of the warmth and intoxication that flowed through his veins. In a way, that feeling was comforting, it gave him a sense of buoyancy, as though he was floating atop a cloud. For some reason, Deidara felt like lying on the ground just then, so that's what he did. He scooted over to be closer to Sasori, and then laid down next to where Sasori sat.

"Hmm, what's this?" Sasori asked, "you already feel drunk?"

"A little inebriated, yes, my man," Deidara said, "how can you tell?"

"You don't normally approach this closely to me, at least, not so nonchalantly. Your actions seem a little looser when you drink. That, and you get this pink blush across your cheeks," Sasori said with another laugh. He turned down and looked over at Deidara, their faces just a few inches apart, "Yes, that drunken glow is definitely there!"

"Hey!" Deidara covered his face, embarrassed. Sasori laughed again, and then laid down next to him. Deidara blinked in confusion, _he's acting so strange tonight…hm…he's laying next to me! Our shoulders are only half an inch apart!_

"I can't remember what it feels like to sleep, or dream," Sasori said in a rather quiet voice.

"Oh," Deidara said, "I don't always remember my dreams, they are fleeting…just like my art!" he added in his drunken stupor.

Sasori stared at him, his gaze unwavering, "you should try to remember your dreams, then you can tell me about them."

"Hm!?" Deidara almost choked, "you want to hear about my dreams? Why?"

"Well..." Sasori started, careful, as always, with his choice of words, "just earlier when you asked me about what I lost when I became a puppet, I had never really thought about that before. I lost the ability to dream. I used to quite enjoy dreaming when I was a child. Dreaming was a way to escape my miserable waking life."

Deidara had never heard Sasori talk about his childhood before, and he was desperate to find out more, "Why was your life so miserable?"

"My parents were shinobi, they left the village for an important mission when I was a child. They never returned, as they had died. My idiotic grandmother lied about it, telling me they would one day return. I soon found out the truth…as I said before, love is a shinobi's true weakness. I couldn't bear that my parents were gone, and that my grandmother had lied…I turned a little numb after that day." Sasori's words pierced a hole in Deidara's heart, he felt pain for this puppet lying next to him.

"So you began creating puppets?" Deidara asked.

"Yes, to fill the void. The art of puppetry comforted me, gave me a purpose in life. I eventually defected from the sand village when I realized there was nothing of value for me there."

"And then you joined the akatsuki?" Deidara asked, still eager for more.

"Yes, soon after I left my village, I joined the akatsuki, just like you. Well, I guess you were forced to join. I was just in search of a purpose, and in search of power. I was hungry to attain more puppets." Sasori admitted.

Deidara nodded, listening intently. He was beginning to feel a little drowsy, and he cautiously placed his head against Sasori's shoulder, testing the waters. Sasori did not say anything or move away. Instead, Sasori reached up his hand and slowly began to run his fingers through Deidara's blonde hair, stroking his head smoothly.

"You are tired, aren't you?" Sasori asked in a hushed voice.

"A little," Deidara said, "but tell me more about the village hidden in the sand, more about your childhood."

"Okay," Sasori said, "it's okay if you doze off, I still remember a little what it's like to feel tired and how hard it is to fight staying awake. Just tell me about your dreams when you wake, ok?"

"But, we have our mission,"

"Then, we'll wait until it's done," Sasori said.

"Okay," Deidara said. His eyelids felt heavy, "wh-what if we don't succeed? Han has a tailed beast…"

"We will succeed, my friend," Sasori said with determination. Deidara felt his heart leap at the word friend. "I am eternal, I cannot die so easily. And I won't let you die a young death, not yet anyway."

Deidara nodded sleepily on Sasori's shoulder. He snuggled a little closer to his chest, and felt Sasori's arm wrap around him tighter. "Why do you care about me, about my dreams?" he asked before yawning.

Sasori chuckled, "go to sleep, we can talk more another time. You are still a little drunk, you need to sleep off the liquor."

"You didn't answer me, hm," Deidara said.

Sasori became a tad defiant at that moment, "You've asked a lot of questions of me tonight. It will be my turn to ask you some questions next time. I'll answer your remaining questions when the time is right."

Deidara felt his eyes begin to close. His last thoughts swam through his mind before he drifted into sleep. _Sasori wants to ask_ me _questions? I wonder what he wants to know about me…why is he suddenly interested in me? I-I can't believe I'm rested up against him._ He nuzzled his head closer, feeling Sasori's hands brush against his hair, soothingly. _I wish I could stay awake, listen to more…_ Deidara drifted asleep, still rested upon Sasori's chest. Sasori stared up at the stars, waiting, as always, for morning.


	5. Chapter 5

_Remember your dreams…_ Sasori's words floated through Deidara's head as he drifted into dream world. With those lingering thoughts in the back of his mind, Deidara entered a lucid dream, one that he would not easily forget. He was walking through a shallow pool of blood, but the liquid did not discomfort him. On the other side of the pool, was a small island, filled with red sand. As Deidara waded through the blood, he saw a lone figure on the island. It was Sasori, his bright red hair stood out even amongst all the red around them.

"Took you long enough," Sasori said.

"Hmm," Deidara replied. It was then that he noticed the pear he was holding. He handed the pear to Sasori, out of some strange instinct. "here."

"Thank you, my sweet," Sasori said as he took the pear. He took a bite of it, the juice ran down his chin and dripped to his bare chest. Deidara watched the juices continue to flow, making a mess all over his puppet body.

Deidara sat next to Sasori. They stared at the blood ocean before them, it was both calming and unnerving at the same time. Sasori took another bite of his pear and said, "it's the blood from all my puppets. I've created an ocean, isn't it beautiful?"

"Ehh, sure," Deidara said. He turned to look at Sasori, noticing that his fingers had laced themselves in his. Deidara squeezed Sasori's hand tight.

"Maybe I should add you to my collection," Sasori said nonchalantly. "but I think not. Your beauty is fleeting, momentary, after all. If I preserved your body forever, it might lose its glow…no, you can stay here by my side so I may enjoy the beauty while it lasts."

Deidara was keenly aware that he was in a dream at that moment, hearing these strange words from Sasori. In a way, this was how he viewed himself- as a transient form, a shooting star in the vastness of time. Deidara knew any day could be his last as a shinobi, and he had accepted this as his aesthetic, as his art. To him, art was ephemeral, a brief moment in time.

"Even after your beauty passes, will you still think of me? Will I still think of you?" Sasori asked, deep in thought.

"I-I never thought of that before," Deidara admitted, "I hope you'll still think of me, remember my art."

"Of course. The image may be momentary, but the effect will linger forever. In that sense, you can't escape that your art is eternal." Sasori said. Deidara never knew his dream-image could put forth such philosophical ideals. "And although I have created perpetual puppets, there is still a weak spot. If the core in the heart is torn, my puppet can die. And in that sense, my art is also like yours, fleeting and momentary. Our art compliments each other, in an endless cycle. It's the yin and yang."

Deidara nodded, fully comprehending Sasori's statements. Then, he did something that he could only do in a dream. "let me get that for you," he said, staring at the pear juice. Sasori nodded his compliance, and Deidara licked the juice from Sasori's chest, moving up towards his mouth. Once there, he licked up the juice from his lips and then embraced him in a passionate kiss that tasted of the sweet fruit.

Their bodies fell back towards the red sand, which was warm beneath them. The kiss did not cease, they were both hungry for each other. Sand was getting in Sasori and Deidara's hair, and it was blowing around them, trying to tear them apart.

Then, the blood ocean began to swirl with turbulence. The waves grew higher and higher, until it came splashing down upon them. As the blood wave crashed down on Deidara, he pulled away from Sasori, thrashing wildly, feeling as though he might drown—

Deidara panted as he woke up in a fright. He breathed heavily, his body still felt like it was drowning. He looked around, relieved that there was no ocean of blood around him. He then noticed that there was no Sasori lying on the ground either.

"Ah, you're up," the female voice came from behind him. Deidara spun around and saw the figure of Ayame.

"O-Oh," Deidara said, still trying to shake the intensity of his lucid dream. "I didn't realize you had already transferred into her body."

"Yes, I got bored a few hours ago and decided to go ahead and get in my disguise. You'll need to hide, the man over there will wake up any moment. I've already hidden your tracks and come up with a cover story. I'll tell him that he got knocked out from a poison from one of the hidden grass shinobi that tried to recover the scroll."

Deidara nodded, scrambling up and hiding behind a tree. Sasori, or Ayame, reached out to the man and shook him gently, trying to wake him. He finally grumbled and blinked, awakened at last from the trance of the sleeping gas.

"Oh Ayame!" he cried, "what happened?"

"Shh, don't strain yourself," she reassured him, "everything's fine, I had a small skirmish with a hidden grass shinobi who tried to get the scroll back. I fought him off and he left the scene injured. His poison gas knocked you out, I tended to you over the night."

"We wasted an entire night?!" he cried, outraged.

Ayame rolled her eyes, "I _tried_ to wake you countless times, stupid. That stuff he used was pretty heavy, I'm just glad you're waking up now."

"Then why didn't you carry me back to the village?" he asked.

"It was dark by the time I had settled things with the pesky grass shinobi. You know how Onoki is about visitors at night. I thought it best to just rest up here and get an early start." Ayame explained with a shrug. Deidara's detail on the old man worked, the man nodded to indicate that he understood. Then he got up and the two of them walked away, leaving Deidara alone again to puzzle over his strange dream.

…

Deidara was antsy all day long as he waited impatiently for Ayame to return with Han. He kept worrying about how many things could go wrong, and what would happen if Sasori was captured, or hurt, or… _bah! I can't let myself think about the "what ifs"_

Instead, he daydreamed, thinking about his dream from last night, playing it over in his mind. The kiss that he and Sasori shared in the dream gave him comfort, and also made his heart pace a little faster. He promised to himself not to tell Sasori about that dream, if he really did ask about it. Sasori had been so different last night, Deidara almost wondered if that had been part of his own dream…but he could still remember the feel of the alcohol in his body and the soft touch of Sasori's hand against his head. It had definitely been real.

Deidara busied himself with making more detonating clay and exploring around the forest, thinking it would be good to know his way around in case they had to retreat or chase Han down. Deidara felt a tinge of excited anticipation as he waited for what was sure to be an epic battle between himself and the tailed beast.

….

Just before dusk, Deidara heard his signal. A throaty cough from Ayame told him that they were nearby. _So the plan worked, he seems ok!_ Deidara hid himself behind a tree and readied his detonating clay in his hand's mouth. The mouth chewed it quickly, preparing a tiny caterpillar.

Deidara set the caterpillar on the ground and it headed towards the duo who were walking up slowly. The caterpillar sneaked its way up Han's massive body. Han was definitely a formidable looking man, standing taller than 7 feet. Ayame looked miniscule standing next to the broad shouldered man, who was covered from head to toe in armor. The only part of his face that could be seen were his eyes, which were dark and glowering. He looked suspicious of the woman standing beside him, eyeing her with what seemed to be malice.

As the small caterpillar crawled up Han's leg, Deidara thought that this might go easier than expected. However, a split second before he set off the bomb, Han reacted, moving quickly. He shoved Ayame away harshly and then kicked his leg with a jerk, sending the caterpillar flying. The caterpillar blew up in a heap of smoke in the air. The blast knocked Han back, but he did not lose his footing. He turned his attention toward the disheveled Ayame on the ground.

In one swift movement, Han raised his boulder of a fist and brought it down on Ayame, square in the chest. Deidara watched with horror as a loud cracking noise pierced the air. "I should have known better than to trust a useless woman like yourself!" Han yelled in a deep, rough voice. "Now where is your partner you wench!"

Deidara stepped out from his hiding spot, daring this evil man to begin battle. "I'm the one you want to fight, leave her alone hm!" he yelled. Han's eyes glared at Deidara with anger.

"Ah, the akatsuki, I should have known," he said with spite as he glanced over Deidara's robes.

"So our reputation precedes us then," Deidara said. His hands had created his next battle weapon, three small clay crickets.

Deidara threw the crickets and fell back towards his flight bird, hidden behind a thicket of bushes. He quickly hopped on the bird and swooped up overhead, gritting his teeth when he noticed that Han had evaded the attack. _Dammit!_

Han was charging at him fast, full speed. Deidara laughed, flying higher up into the sky. Then, Han did something that Deidara did not expect, he jumped up a distance that Deidara did not think was humanly possible. A jet of smoke flew out from beneath him, as though he was being propelled by something behind his back.

Deidara caught a quick glimpse of what that something was- a small furnace was on his back, and it was full of steam. Deidara had only a moment to appreciate this clever concept before Han's massive fist met his face dead center, knocking him off of his white clay bird.

Deidara fell hard and fast through the air, surely he would soon hit the ground. Yet somehow, his fall was softened. He looked up and saw that he was being held by one of Sasori's puppets.

The puppet brought him back over to his bird, and Deidara climbed aboard gratefully. He rubbed his cheek, feeling it swell with the force of Han's hit. _So he's a taijutsu user, hm? Well, if Sasori and I just stay far enough away from him, this shouldn't be a problem._

Deidara spotted Sasori in an open field, back in his normal form. The puppet Ayame had been smashed beyond repair by Han's fists. Sasori must have gotten his core chest piece to safety before Han's hit. Deidara sighed in relief.

Han was charging fast towards Sasori's puppets. He smashed through two of them with ease, the steam giving each punch extra power. _I see what's going on, his chakra nature must be a mix between fire and water, which creates this powerful steam. This steam power can magnify his physical strength._

Deidara quickly swooped down closer to Sasori, "he's a taijutsu user, and his chakra nature is both fire and water. He uses the steam pressure to increase his strength, hm!"

"Yes I've figured that much out myself," Sasori said, a little rudely.

"So stay away from him!" Deidara said, swooping back up, "let me handle him with my art!"

His fingers grabbed on to more clay and his hand chewed it hurriedly. He opened his hand to reveal an owl. The owl dived down towards his target, Han.

Han was still busy pounding Sasori's many puppets, trying in vain to get close to the puppet master. He did not notice the owl's presence until a second too late. **Boom!**

Deidara sighed, and waited for the smoke to disperse. He gasped when he saw that Han was still standing, although his form had changed drastically.

Han looked more like a beast than human, his skin was flaming red and his eyes were white holes. Two tails had emerged on his back, whipping back and forth viciously, and he was crouched down, ready to pounce. His sharp teeth were noticeable even from Deidara's far off distance in the sky. _So this is the tailed beast's power, hm._ Deidara thought, swallowing hard.

Han pounced forward, his speed seemed to have tripled. He went straight for Sasori, mowing past the other puppets as if they weren't even there.

Deidara acted quickly, doing the only thing he could think to in that moment. He flew his bird down to the earth, headed towards the spot right in front of Sasori. Once he reached that spot, he braced himself.

The hit came hard, knocking Deidara off of his bird and sending the bird soaring in the opposite direction. The clay bird took most of the hit, it's head had been knocked off, leaving mounds of clay everywhere. Deidara felt his body bounce off the ground, and then fall back down again and again. He finally stopped, skidding across the dirt ground.

"You fool!" Sasori yelled. Deidara opened an eye, watching Sasori from his place in the dirt. He could feel warm blood dripping down from his forehead.

Sasori had summoned his Hiruko puppet armor, and he deftly hopped inside of it as Han turned around. Han had run far past his initial target and had been unable to slow himself down, he was now a few paces ahead of where Sasori stood, covered up by the Hiruko armor.

Han let out a hair-raising roar, and began to run towards Sasori again. "Not this time," Sasori's deep voice grumbled. His poison tipped metal tail was ready to strike.

Once Han was within distance of the Hiruko armor tail, it struck, hitting Han's shoulder. Han kept running, but yelled another chilling howl as Sasori side swept away from the beast, pulling the fine needle point of his tail out of Han's flesh. Han ran past Sasori again, but stopped a little sooner than he had before.

Deidara slowly pushed his hands on the ground to lift himself up. He pulled up carefully to get a better look as Han's tailed beast form began to fade. When the tailed beast cloak dissipated, a sickened looking Han was left, the poison had no doubt reached his veins.

Han looked upon Sasori with pure loathing. The intensity of his eyes did not waver, despite the slowing of his movements. "I'm not through with you yet," he said, walking slowly towards Sasori. He seemed to have procured enough steam to push off again, this time propelling himself towards Sasori with a raised fist.

Deidara had anticipated this, and his clay spiders were already on the job, unbeknownst to Han or Sasori. As soon as Han was in range of his spiders hidden underground, just a few yards away from Sasori, Deidara set them off. Han's figure flew backwards from the explosion. He hit the ground hard, and did not stir.

Sasori rushed over to Han to inspect him. Deidara carefully got up from his crouched position, lifting a hand up to his bleeding head to stop the flow. He walked towards Sasori with woozy steps. "Is he dead?" Deidara asked, "We're not supposed to kill him, hm."

"He isn't dead, just knocked out cold, the way we need him," Sasori responded, "good work, that last explosion was clever. However, you were a fool to rush in and put yourself in danger like that earlier. You could've suffered worse than a head wound." Sasori' words were laced with a surprising amount of vehemence.

"You're welcome," Deidara said, clearly annoyed.

Sasori glared at him, "I didn't ask you to save me. I had a plan, I wasn't going to just _stand_ there when he charged at me. It was idiotic of you do to that. I'm just glad we managed to make this mission a success. We need to leave now, before you bleed out."

Deidara took his hand down from his forehead, seeing only red. The flow had not stopped yet, he did not realize the cut was that deep. "here," Sasori sighed, wrapping a cloth tightly around Deidara's head.

Then Sasori heaved up the passed out figure of Han on top of the large Hiruko puppet back. "Fix your bird and let's go," he demanded. Sasori complied, feeling too dizzy to argue or complain.

Once the clay bird head was intact, they clambered on top and soared up to the skies, headed for Pain's secret hideout with the Gedo statue.

…..

Deidara kept his composure as they sailed through the sky in silence. Once they reached the akatsuki hideout, Deidara felt even more lightheaded. He slid off the bird and stumbled, but Sasori caught him. "You need to get that stitched up," he said.

Pain, Konan, Kakuzu and Hidan were waiting for them. Pain was pleased to see that they had captured Han. "Good work," he said. "We will seal the beast in an hour, I will contact the others."

"Wait, Kakuzu needs to stitch this brat's head up, he's still losing blood." Sasori said with annoyance.

Deidara glared at him, "I'm fine," he said. Black spots danced in front of his eyes, daring him to fall over and faint. He stood up firmer, trying to prove his point.

"You look as pale as one of your clay figurines," Pain agreed, "lay him down and stitch him up Kakuzu, get him some water Konan. I will call upon the others and tell them to wait 2-3 hours before the sealing. It looks like Han is knocked out cold, it can wait a little longer."

….

Deidara laid on the bed uncomfortably, touching the rough stitches on his forehead. He did feel much better now, after drinking copious amounts of water and eating a meal to regain his strength. _Konan is actually pretty nice, hm. And she isn't a bad cook either,_ he thought to himself as he patted his full belly.

Konan walked into the small room and asked Deidara how he was feeling. It had been 2 hours since they had landed, so Deidara said he was ready to seal the tailed beast. It would be the 2nd beast to be sealed within the Gedo statue.

Deidara, Sasori, Kakuzu, Hidan, Pain and Konan were present with the Gedo statue, and the rest of the akatsuki members used their holograms to provide their strength for the sealing. The sealing would take up to three days, and Deidara couldn't hide a groan that escaped his lips.

The motivation for Deidara to finish this sealing was the thought of talking to Sasori again. He wondered why Sasori was so upset at him for interfering during their battle with Han. He also wondered if Sasori would ask him about his dream, or if he would go back to being aloof and cynical around him. As always, Deidara had plenty of questions racking his brain about this mysterious man. He felt that he had peeled back a layer of Sasori, had been lucky to be let inside Sasori's mind for just one night. It had been magical, almost surreal to hear about Sasori's past life. He did not know if Sasori would let him dig further, or if he would build up a wall again. He yearned for Sasori to let him in, let him comfort that small boy who had been abandoned long ago. Deidara wanted to feel the comfort of being held close to Sasori's chest again, even if it was just once more. In turn, he wanted to give that comfort to Sasori, tell him that he could let love in again, that he didn't have to view love as a weakness. _His heart will be safe with me,_ Deidara thought to himself.


	6. Chapter 6

"Phew," Deidara wiped his forehead as the Gedo statue sat before them with two eyes open, indicating that they had successfully sealed away two of the nine tailed beasts they were after. His head was throbbing, he could feel the swelling around his stitches. His stomach growled noisily. _Well, I guess I'll have to take care of my human needs before talking to Sasori,_ Deidara said, walking away from the Gedo statue. Sasori had already left the premise as soon as the sealing was complete. He didn't even say a word on his way out, he had just turned around and left.

Deidara stretched and walked off with Konan to eat more of her delicious food. Deidara ate with her, talking absentmindedly about various things, but not really listening. Both of them were tired from sealing the tailed beast, and left promptly after their meal to rest.

Deidara didn't feel much like sleeping, although he was pretty tired. There was a natural hot spring near the akatsuki hideout, less than half a mile away that was calling to him.

Deidara shuffled his way to the hot spring hidden in the woods, and stripped down. No one was around, and he sighed heavily as he entered the warm waters. This was just what he needed, some time alone to relax and think things over. He planned to get out and take a nap in a few minutes, after he felt thoroughly rinsed. But his plans were interrupted as he heard someone saunter their way towards him.

It was none other than Sasori, the man who occupied Deidara's every thoughts. He was in his true form, which seemed risky considering he only showed that form to a select few. Most of the members of the akatsuki only ever saw Sasori in his Hiruko armor. Sasori seemed a little taken aback to find someone else in the hot spring.

"Oh," he said a little awkwardly, "I didn't expect to find you here. I thought I was the only one who knew about this spring."

"I saw it from the sky as we flew in," Deidara admitted. He noticed his heart had started racing. _Pull it together!_ He told himself. "You can come in if you'd like. I guess it would feel good to soak even in a puppet body."

"Yes, it does feel good still," Sasori admitted. He had a towel wrapped around his waist, but he did not remove it as he stepped forward and entered the hot spring. Deidara sighed his disappointment, he had wanted to get a glimpse of what Sasori's puppet private parts looked like… _Did he keep everything there?_ Deidara couldn't get the naughty thought out of his head.

They both sat in the water for a few uncomfortable moments of silence before Sasori broke it, "does that still hurt?" he was pointing at Deidara's stitches.

"Oh this? Nah," Deidara said, rubbing his forehead gently. He was starting to admire his new battle scar.

"It was still a stupid thing to do," Sasori said defiantly.

Deidara couldn't bite back his tongue any longer, "why exactly were my actions so stupid, hm? I seem to remember that you were in danger and I knew my clay bird would take most of the blow. Han was charging fast, so I acted quickly."

Sasori retorted, "I've told you hundreds of times that my puppets are eternal, a hit like that would not have killed me."

"I know, but after seeing what his fist did to the Ayame puppet, I thought the outcome of his charge against you would completely obliterate your puppet body. Even if you lived, you-you wouldn't be the same. You'd have to live in another puppet's body, your own would be destroyed." Deidara said.

Sasori blinked at him, "I-I have more than one puppet body that looks like me. I created a few doppelgangers of my body, just in case."

"What?!" Deidara cried, outraged. "why didn't you tell me that!?"

"Why _would_ I tell you that?" Sasori countered, "that isn't pertinent information that you need to know."

"Oh of course," Deidara rolled his eyes, "you only tell people things they _need_ to know."

Sasori's eyes narrowed with suspicion, "what exactly are you implying?"

"I'm just saying…I mean, you're a pretty secretive guy, my man." Deidara said.

Sasori huffed, but didn't say another word for a minute or two. Then, "so the reason you interfered was to save my puppet body then? Huh, I must have charmed you with my good looks," he winked at Deidara seductively. Deidara felt jolted by Sasori's sudden change in mood- he was acting playful, almost flirty.

Deidara smiled, "I just think it would be a waste to destroy that body after I finally saw it. And I doubt that many others in this world have red hair like yours."

"So you don't even deny that I'm attractive, that's very bold of you. I'm surprised you admitted that," Sasori said with sly smile.

"Huh?" Deidara said as he pushed his blonde hair out of his face.

"Well, I've watched your behavior since you saw my real body a few months ago. You've been more…hmm what's the word? Cautious around me. You stared at me from afar, as if you were watching me. I wondered why you were acting this way, and I think I just found my answer. You're deeply attracted to me." Sasori deduced. He was looking at Deidara with that half open-eyed dreamy gaze.

Deidara couldn't hide the deep crimson blush that formed on his cheeks. He was speechless. Sasori laughed, and then scooted over closer to Deidara. Deidara felt his heart pound against his chest, he feared that Sasori would hear it. He felt uneasy with Sasori sitting so close to him, their naked bodies just inches apart…

"Don't be embarrassed," Sasori said, placing an arm around Deidara. "and hey," he was practically whispering in Deidara's ear, "the reason I was so mad at you before was because I don't want you to get injured or die. I hate to admit it, but I find you quite attractive as well."

Deidara felt his heart soar in reaction to Sasori's words. He merely gazed into Sasori's eyes, searching for any sign of lies. He saw the reflection of truth there, Sasori was being genuine. But still, Deidara didn't believe it. "Really?" he asked.

"Really, stupid." Sasori said. He had brought his face closer to Deidara's, their lips half an inch apart. Deidara's heart was in his throat, he couldn't have said anything even if he had wanted to.

They both leaned in to close the gap between their lips, joining them together in a soft, sweet kiss. _So his lips do feel real! They are warm, and wet, and so soft!_

Deidara reached his hand up to brush his fingers through Sasori's red hair as they kissed. He opened his eyes once, seeing Sasori's eyes closed peacefully and his red damp hair covered over his forehead made Deidara's heart flutter. Deidara closed his eyes again and let his hand slide down to cusp Sasori's cheek. Then his hand slithered farther down towards Sasori's chest, exploring and feeling the touch of Sasori's soft skin.

Deidara slowly dared his hand to glide lower, but Sasori abruptly pulled back from the kiss, staring at Deidara with a look of alarm. Deidara's hand fell back to his side and Sasori slid away a few inches. Deidara blinked, "what's wrong?" he asked.

Sasori shook his head, and gave a mischievous smile, "one step at a time. I don't want to go there just yet…you're still so young."

"What?" Deidara was a little confused, "I'm not that young!"

"You'll be 18 soon, we can wait," Sasori said.

"Hm, I thought you were an impatient man," Deidara replied.

"Yes, I do struggle with my patience. But for this matter, we should wait." Sasori said.

Deidara was still a bit confused, he had an idea where Sasori was going with this conversation, but he wanted to be sure, "You mean…what do you mean by this 'matter'?"

Sasori gave him a flirtatious look and said, "that _power_ of mine that you spoke of by the fire that night. My _seductive_ power that I've withheld…If we continued on like that, there would be a point where I wouldn't be able to stop myself. I needed to stop in order to control my urges." Sasori said in a calm voice.

Deidara blushed hard and then smirked, "Hm, so you're just as attracted to me as I am to you! You find me irresistible!"

If Sasori could blush, he would, "don't get too cocky there. I still think my art is better than yours."

"Psh, art is an explosion! But now you're just avoiding the conversation," Deidara said.

"Well hey, it's my turn to ask you questions, remember?" Sasori responded, "and I want to know how you got interested in your strange form of art."

Deidara told him, "I was a young apprentice under Onoki. In a way, he raised me…I was abandoned as a child, my parents didn't want me, so I was orphaned under the care of the hidden stone shinobi. I was raised as a shinobi, I learned everything young. The academy was easy for me, almost boring. Onoki suggested that I join the explosion corps, and I took a liking to it immediately. The rush of each explosion, the adrenaline that came from making something that blew away in a matter of seconds…it excited me immensely."

Sasori listened intently, and asked, "why did you defect from the village?"

"Well, I guess it was for similar reasons to you…I didn't have a family or friends, and I sought a purpose. I yearned to perfect my art further, I was able to make these amazing clay figurines that everyone loved. I stole the village's kinjutsu which allowed me to knead my chakra into my clay, forming the explosive clay. I was enamored with my art, the art of a single moment…I felt that it needed to be spread through the world, so that everyone could be amazed by its power. I left the village, offering my services to those who needed it in various countries. Then one day, I was approached by you, Kisame and Itachi. You know the rest," he said.

"So did you find your purpose?" Sasori asked him.

"Well, my purpose has changed a little I suppose. I still desire to show off my art to others, and the akatsuki has given me a reason to use that art. I don't much care for world domination, but chasing these tailed beasts down gives me a chance to continually impress others with my art. My other purpose now is to enact my revenge on Itachi," Deidara's eyebrows furrowed with anger.

"You're still upset about that?" Sasori asked.

"I'll get my revenge on that sharingan user, just wait and see," Deidara said, "And hey, you're still keeping tabs on Orochimaru."

"Yes, that's true. I never realized you were still adamant on taking out Itachi. You do know the reason Orochimaru left the akatsuki is because he tried, and failed, to steal Itachi's body?" Sasori said.

"Hm," Deidara said in thought, considering this piece of information, "I know Itachi is strong, but I've been training hard. I am resistant to genjutsu now."

"Really? I'm impressed."

"I told you I was going to do it," Deidara said.

"Yes, I never realized how determined you were," Sasori said, "Just be patient about your revenge, Itachi is cunning and clever."

"Yes, I realize that," Deidara said, "that's why I'm waiting, biding my time."

Sasori nodded his agreement, and then they sat in silence again for a moment. This silence was not awkward, but rather, calm. They had carried on a normal conversation, even after their shared kiss. Things seemed to be falling into place, aligning correctly at that moment. Deidara couldn't believe how easy it had been to speak to Sasori about these matters. He felt a sense of peace wash over him, felt any lingering tension relax.

"So Deidara," Sasori said, "are you going to tell me about that dream you had that night?"

Deidara had almost forgotten about that. The memory of the dream came rushing back to him, and he blushed. He sighed, "I'm not sure if you want to know…it was pretty strange."

Sasori waded back next to Deidara, "that's exactly why I want to know! I don't have dreams, reality is rarely bizarre enough to be entertaining."

"Fine," Deidara sighed again, and then retold each detail of his blood ocean dream. He blushed hard as he detailed the memory of himself licking up the pear juice from Sasori's body. Sasori grinned, soaking up the story earnestly.

Once Deidara was finished with his tale, Sasori laughed. "Wow," he said, still chuckling, "It seems you had quite a lustful dream about me. I don't understand why you dreamt about blood everywhere, but I did enjoy that analogy about the yin and yang."

Deidara blinked at him, surprised that he didn't mention anything about the pear. "so you're not creeped out by it?"

"No," Sasori said, with a grin, "I did ask you to relay your dreams, so I can't be upset by what your mind envisions while asleep. Dreams reflect our deepest desires and urges, but they do so in the most peculiar manner. I've heard that pears are a sign of good luck in a dream," he winked at Deidara.

Deidara smiled at him, happy that he had enjoyed his odd dream. "Whenever you remember your dreams, you should tell me them," Sasori said.

"Okay," Deidara agreed. He was about to lay his head on Sasori's shoulder, but Sasori got up from the water. "Where are you going?" Deidara asked.

"I've soaked long enough. You're skin will prune up if you stay in there too long. I have a few modifications I want to add to my puppets," Sasori replied. He still had his soaked towel wrapped around his body.

Deidara was surprised by his change in affect again, but shrugged it off. "Well, aren't you going to get out of there?" Sasori asked him.

Deidara's cheeks grew hot again, "Oh, um, I'll wait until you leave."

A mischievous smile spread across Sasori's lips, "Oh-ho," he said, "I didn't realize you were completely naked in there. The thick waters prevented me from seeing down below…" As Sasori spoke, his eyes traveled down towards Deidara's crotch, although it was true that this area was hidden from sight due to the murkiness of the water.

Deidara instinctively placed his hands over his privates and said, "most people bathe naked hm! And I thought I was alone!"

Sasori laughed, "You're pretty cute when you get flustered like that." He leaned down and kissed Deidara on the forehead, right above his stitches. "just promise me you won't recklessly jump into the line of fire like that again, stupid." Deidara nodded, feeling stunned by the adoring kiss on the forehead he had just received. Sasori smiled and walked away into the forest, out of sight but definitely not out of Deidara's mind.

….

After a restful, long sleep, Deidara woke up to find that Pain wanted to speak with him and Sasori. "I thought we would have the day off, hm" Deidara said stubbornly to Konan.

"Our plan is in full swing now that we have captured two beasts. Pain has another mission for you and Sasori. Kakuzu and Hidan have already left for their respective mission," she assured him.

Deidara rubbed his eyes and got up to find Pain. Pain was standing ominously in front of the Gedo statue, poised and unfaltering as always. Sasori stood before him in his Hiruko armor. He turned and saw Deidara's half awake presence ambling towards them and said "hurry, I don't like to be kept waiting."

Deidara smirked and took his place next to his partner. "I have a new mission for you," Pain stated, "go to the village hidden in the waterfall. I have suspicions that a jinchuriki is hiding there, I will need you two to scope it out and bring back the information. Once confirmed, I will send Kakuzu and Hidan to capture the beast."

"Huh, why can't we capture it?" Deidara asked.

"Silence, do not defy my judgment," Pain warned, "You and Sasori are good with infiltration, but Hidan and Kakuzu need a chance to prove their worth with capturing a beast. They are currently sent on a mission to gain funds for the organization, so I am sending you two to scope out the village in the waterfall. I don't know how long it will take you, there may or may not be a jinchuriki amongst them."

Deidara nodded, not daring to speak again. He and Sasori left once it was apparent that Pain was finished with them. Sasori didn't say a word as they made their way towards the village hidden in the waterfall. Deidara didn't think much of this, he was beginning to get used to Sasori's quiet demeanor. He was quite looking forward to spending time alone with Sasori on this low-key mission.


	7. Chapter 7

Sasori and Deidara decided to use their original disguise as Daichi and Mai upon entering the village. Deidara felt more comfortable this time with holding Mai's hand, and playing the part of a young lover. In a way, Deidara wasn't even acting anymore.

They found a small tea shop to rest in after their long journey. They sipped on their tea silently, casually watching the other villagers.

"So do you have any idea how we are supposed to find information about a possible jinchuriki?" Deidara asked in a hushed voice.

Mai answered, "we might have to lay low for a while, get to know the town before we ask any questions. We'll take this mission nice and slow."

Normally this type of response would irk Deidara, but under the current circumstances, he felt content. He viewed this mission as a sort of vacation time, where he and Sasori could become closer. He felt relaxed as he took another sip of his warm tea.

They took a lazy walk through the small village, window shopping and people viewing. The village was quite small, and surrounded by trees everywhere, giving it a natural beauty. Deidara had never seen anything so quaint and unique. They strolled towards the village's waterfall, watching the sunlight dance along the crystal clear water.

Before dark, they checked themselves into a hotel. Deidara plopped himself on the small bed and said "will you lay next to me while I fall asleep?"

Sasori eyed him carefully, still in the Mai puppet, "I was going to go out tonight,"

"What do you mean?" Deidara asked. "Go where?"

"That wooden hut near the waterfall that we saw is the home of the village leader. I would like to sneak around and place a few recording devices around the building." Sasori explained.

"Why do you want to overhear what the village leader has to say?" Deidara wondered.

"I figure we should start there. If this village is hiding a jinchuriki, the head of the village is sure to know about it. He may give us a clue or hint that we can further investigate into," Sasori explained.

"Okay," Deidara said, getting up from the bed, "let's go."

"You want to come?" Sasori asked.

"Yeah my man, I don't want to stay here all alone, it's boring." Deidara admitted. Sasori shrugged, placing a finger to his lips as they exited the building. They snuck out quietly.

"If anyone spots us, we'll say we fancied a moonlit walk by the waterfall," Sasori said, holding Deidara's hand. Deidara nodded.

They reached the wooden hut easily, encountering only a few passersby on the way. Mai and Daichi looked around, made sure no one was nearby, and then Mai slipped into a bush, slowly scaling the side of the building in order to find a good spot to place one of the recording devices.

The device was a small, barely noticeable microphone. Mai placed one in between the wooden boards in the back of the hut while Daichi watched for any sign of guards or other people. _The defenses around the leader's house are pretty slack, hm._

Mai was able to place another bug near the roof of the building, and then climbed down rather quickly. "what is it?" Daichi whispered. Mai pulled his hand and led him to a nearby bush to hide in.

"I saw a guard on the other side of the building," Sasori whispered. Just then, a lone guard walked around the house, yawning. It appears he had not seen them clambering around the building, they had just made it out in time.

"Will two devices be enough, hm?"

"I wanted to place a third on the other side of the building…we may have to wait a minute or two for this buffoon to move out of our way." Sasori said.

They waited in the bush as the guard slowly made his rounds. As soon as they were about to emerge from the bush again, Deidara and Sasori felt a tap on their shoulders from behind. They froze in place, and slowly turned their heads.

A girl was staring at them with a bright and silly smile. She had mint green spiky hair with an orange hair clip. She was petite but strong looking, the forehead protector on her arm indicated that she was a shinobi. "Hello!" she said with a happy-go-lucky smile.

"Um," Daichi didn't know how to respond.

"Oh! Did I interrupt you two?" she asked as she winked, "I saw you crouched behind this bush, I thought maybe it was a game! Or are you lovers just looking for a romantic spot to make-out?"

The naivety of her questions relieved Deidara, as he realized that she had no clue why they were hidden in that bush. _She doesn't seem that smart, hm._ "Oh, we just dropped our map, we were trying to find our way to the waterfall for a walk!" Daichi said in a too-excited voice.

"Oh look no further!" her excitement was overwhelming. "I live here, I can take you to the waterfall! Will you be my friends?"

Daichi and Mai stood up, Mai responded, "what's your name? I'm Mai and this is my boyfriend Daichi. We would love to see the waterfall."

"Oh so I was right, you two are lovers! I knew it! I'm Fuu!" she cried. She seemed very eager to take them to the waterfall. It seemed that they had no choice but to follow this slightly crazy girl.

Before they departed however, they heard a cry from the direction of the leader's home, "hey!" it was the guard watching the home, "what do you think you're doing Fuu?"

"I'm going to show these tourists the waterfall!" she said with a bright smile.

The guard sighed heavily, "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Aw c'mon! They're my new friends!" she said. Daichi and Mai stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to say.

"Let me come with you, I'll leave Kegon to guard over the master's house," he replied.

"Yoro you don't have to come!" she said, skipping off ahead, "c'mon Daichi and Mai!" Daichi shrugged at Mai and they quickly followed Fuu, trying to catch up. Yoro sighed heavily behind them and followed, seeming to forget to tell this Kegon to take his place.

 _Hm, it's suspicious that this guard wants to follow this girl…_ Deidara thought as they approached the waterfall. Fuu talked nonstop, telling the couple about the history of their village, about their renowned jonin, and the waterfall's mysterious powers. Daichi and Mai listened halfheartedly, all the while wondering why Yoro had insisted on coming along. He stood by in silence, clicking his tongue impatiently. After about 45 minutes, he cut in and said, "Isn't it time for bed Fuu?"

She sighed, "ugh I was just getting to the good part! Don't you want to hear about our village's greatest military secret?" she asked with a wink. Deidara's ears perked up as he nodded.

"No Fuu! They are outsiders, we don't share such things so carelessly!" Yoro yelled at her. "It's time to go."

"Ugh fine!" Fuu said, she turned and waved to them, "Oh and come watch me in the chunin exams in a month! I'm going to make a lot of friends there!" She smiled brightly as she and Yoro departed, waving like a maniac. Daichi and Mai waved back politely.

Once she was out of sight, Mai turned to Daichi, "what a weird girl."

"Yeah," Daichi agreed, "I wonder why Yoro had to tag along…she's a shinobi, perfectly capable of walking two tourists to a waterfall."

"Very strange indeed," Mai said, lost in thought. Daichi sighed and sat down, placing his feet in the water, accepting the cool feel against his skin. "What are you doing?"

"Soaking my feet, the water looked so calm. After hearing about it for 20 minutes from that crazy girl I felt like I needed to feel this magical water for myself." Daichi responded.

Mai took off her sandals and sat next to Daichi, placing her puppet feet within the water. "Mmm, it does feel pretty good," she said, lacing her fingers with Daichi's.

The two of them sat there for some time, enjoying the beauty of the water and the moonlight, almost forgetting their façade as Daichi and Mai. They were Deidara and Sasori, and they enjoyed the peaceful bliss of each other's company.

…..

A few days lapsed in which they listened to every benign conversation that the leader of the village had. He had not mentioned anything about a jinchuriki, although he did talk a lot about the upcoming chunin exams, and how important it was that the village was finally sending in some genin to compete. Deidara and Sasori were beginning to become impatient and bored with listening to the droning conversations of the leader, so they often decided to walk around the village, looking for anything to distract them.

While walking around a bustling marketplace, Daichi and Mai overheard one of the vendors complaining about his workload, "all my employees are requesting time off this Saturday for the firework festival! Psh, I need more workers not less!"

Deidara felt his heart jump, "Did you hear that Mai?"

"Yes, it seems there will be fireworks this Saturday," she replied.

"I love fireworks, we should go!" Daichi said excitedly.

"Yes, it would be a good birthday celebration, if that's what you want," Mai said seductively. Deidara felt his face grow warm, he had almost forgotten that this Saturday was May 5th, his birthday! _Sasori didn't forget my birthday, I wonder if he's been thinking about it since that moment in the hot spring…_

Mai then made sure to ask the vendor about the details of the fireworks, posing as the innocent tourist that she was. He told her the best view would be from the base of the waterfall, as the firework display would be in the sky over the waterfall. Mai gave him thanks as she bought a small trinket from his store, making him smile.

….

Later that evening as they laid down in their hotel bed to rest, Deidara asked Sasori, "do you think you could switch back to your real form?"

Mai was cuddled up with Deidara on the bed, she had cuddled next to him each night until he fell asleep. In the morning, Deidara would share what he remembered of his dreams, and then they would go off to spy and gather intel from the village. It was a safe, simple routine. It was Thursday, still two days before Deidara's birthday, and he was craving to see Sasori's red hair and hazel brown eyes again. He accepted that Sasori was still the same person in his disguise as Mai, but he wanted to feel the warmth and comfort that only Sasori's true body could bring him.

Mai leaned up to look at him with dark, almost black eyes. "you want to see my red hair again, is that it?" he joked.

"Not just that…all of it." Deidara admitted. "No one will come in, this is our private room. We can place the 'do not disturb' sign on the door."

Mai gave a mischievous smile, "alright then," she got off the bed and rummaged through some scrolls, summoning the real body. Once Sasori was back in his own personal puppet form, he said, "I was going to save that sign for this Saturday night…but I guess I can tease you a little tonight."

Deidara blinked in surprise at Sasori's words. Deidara was just hoping to cuddle with Sasori's real body, he hadn't expected more. Sasori hopped onto the bed, and placed himself on top of Deidara's body. Their faces were a few inches apart, Deidara could feel the weight of the smooth body on top of him. "Is this better?" Sasori asked.

Deidara nodded, wanting desperately to bridge the gap between their mouths. Deidara lifted his head up to kiss him, but Sasori leaned back a little, looking at Deidara up and down with a grin. Deidara was wearing a thin t-shirt and long striped pants, his nightwear. Sasori pulled back at the collar of Deidara's shirt, and began kissing his neck. Deidara felt the hairs on his head rise as goose bumps crawled up all over his body.

He could feel the warmth of Sasori's mouth, the wetness of his tongue as he made his way across Deidara's arm, kissing and licking until he reached Deidara's fingers. He placed Deidara's pointer and middle finger in his mouth, licking and sucking on them seductively. Deidara blushed and moaned, his mind immediately went to thoughts of how badly he wanted Sasori to lick and suck another, specific part of his body…

As the thoughts and possibilities swam through Deidara's mind, he felt that certain body part begin to throb as the blood rushed there. He shifted his legs, trying to hide the obvious boner. Sasori noticed, and placed a hand on Deidara's right leg, pushing it down and forcing his legs to open. "Hmm, what do I see here?" he asked in an erotic tone. Deidara didn't answer, Sasori had stopped licking his fingers, he was just holding his hand and staring at the bulge in Deidara's pants. "It seems it wasn't hard to tease you," Sasori said in that purely seductive voice that gave Deidara chills up his spine.

Deidara sat up at that moment, which seemed to surprise Sasori. He placed a hand on Sasori's face and said, "it's my turn to tease you, hm." He began to kiss along Sasori's neck, just as Sasori had done to him. He was sure that Sasori would be breathing hard and blushing, if he could.

His skin tasted real, and felt both smooth and warm in Deidara's mouth. He licked fervently, relishing the sweet taste. He wanted to explore all over Sasori's body. He made his way upwards towards Sasori's right ear, licking the lobe and then breathing heavily into it, "can you feel each sensation?" He licked Sasori's ear, and grabbed his hair violently in his hand. Sasori actually moaned, admitting with that moan that yes, he could indeed feel each passionate sensation from Deidara.

Deidara had never heard Sasori make such a sound before, and he longed to hear it again. That sound had made Deidara's member throb again, and he was now fully erect. His heart was pounding like a maniac. He continued his exploration of Sasori's body, pulling down his shirt and kissing his bare chest, sucking hard in areas to see if he could produce a hickey.

Sasori gave another provocative groan, and Deidara sucked harder on his chest. He pulled back and saw a small red mark, indicative of a hickey. He smiled to himself, wondering how that sensation felt to Sasori.

Sasori pushed Deidara back on the bed so that he was lying on his back. Sasori straddled him, sitting on top of his throbbing penis. Both men were still wearing all their clothes, but it was obvious to Deidara that Sasori could feel that throb between his legs. Sasori began to move his hips back and forth, humping Deidara slowly. He grabbed Deidara's hands in his as he began to rock a little faster, making Deidara blush hard again. Deidara could feel something big pressed up against himself, their parts were almost touching, the thin fabric of their clothes kept them barely apart.

"Mmm," Sasori said, "you feel…quite large." Deidara could barely stand this teasing. He groaned loudly while squeezing Sasori's hands.

Sasori then laid down on top of Deidara, their faces just inches apart again, "you're a naughty boy, aren't you?" he asked. Deidara was about to respond, but Sasori placed a finger over his lips, "this is just a tease, remember? You have to wait until you become a man for the real thing." Then Sasori finally leaned in and kissed him with his mouth slightly open. Deidara felt Sasori's tongue in his mouth, and he welcomed that feeling.

They made out on the bed for a little while, hands exploring each other's body. Deidara felt Sasori's hand grope his butt while the other pulled softly on his long blonde hair. Deidara clasped both his hands around Sasori's back, rubbing them up and down under Sasori's shirt so he could feel the smooth skin of his backside. They stayed like that for some time, kissing each other passionately.

When their lips finally parted, Sasori got off of Deidara and laid next to him. Deidara's erection was still present, but it began to subside a little as they lay there quietly, holding hands and staring up at the ceiling. Deidara was panting heavily, and Sasori seemed to be enjoying his deep breathing. Sasori squeezed Deidara's hand, and rested his head on Deidara's shoulder. Deidara ran his hand through the red hair, wondering how he kept it so smooth and free of tangles.

"It may take me a while to fall asleep tonight" Deidara confessed. His boner was still present, he could not seem to make it die down so easily. Just having Sasori's red hair against his shoulder excited him a little. He couldn't stop thinking about how hot that tease was, and how he yearned for much more.

Sasori gave a low chuckle and said, "I think I need a walk in the cool air to calm my own nerves. You can stay here and do what you need to do in order to pacify yourself." He gave a knowing look towards Deidara's crotch and then raised his eyebrows at Deidara.

Deidara felt his face grow hot again, "that was the biggest tease of all time!" he cried.

Sasori kissed him lightly on the lips and said, "I know. I could barely stop it…you're so cute when you get aroused."

"So why did you stop then, hm?" Deidara asked, "I'm ready."

"I know you are," Sasori agreed, "but all good things come to those who wait…the anticipation for next time will surely make it all worth the wait."

Then Sasori got off the bed and stretched. He transferred back into Mai again, to Deidara's disappointment. Then Mai slowly crossed the room to the door and said, "go ahead and take care of yourself so you can sleep. I'll take a long walk." She winked at Deidara as he understood what her words meant. Then she stepped out of the door, leaving Deidara alone to finish for himself what Sasori had started.


	8. Chapter 8

The next two days seemed to move painstakingly slow for Deidara as he waited impatiently for Saturday. Yet finally, the day arrived and Deidara found himself giddy with excitement as they strolled to the waterfall together that evening, looking for a good spot to view the fireworks.

Deidara laid out a blanket on the cool grass, they had found a spot close to the water where they could hear the crashing of the waterfall. The night sky was clear, a perfect night for fireworks. The area was crowded with hundreds of people, some tourists and others local villagers. Many people were eating festival foods, such as dango or sweet cakes. Some children were playing in the water, splashing each other with free spirited fun. Deidara watched all the townspeople and felt a tinge of nostalgia. He remembered seeing families together in the hidden stone village when he was a small child. He had always wondered why his parents had given him up, his childhood memories were not very fond.

He brushed the thought of his old village aside as he and Sasori sat down on the blanket, holding hands. He didn't need to worry about his past anymore, he was sure that his future would be great. He had joined a powerful organization, one that was sure to make a big impact on this world. More importantly, he had found a person who he could see himself standing by for the rest of his life. He was certain of the connection between himself and Sasori, it was a connection that could withstand time and distance. He felt a squeeze in his hand, Sasori was holding his hand tightly, as if mirroring his thoughts. Deidara smiled wide, waiting for the display of art in the sky to begin.

The sun was just beginning to set in the horizon, Deidara was about to lean over to give Mai a kiss when he caught a flash of mint green in the distance. Fuu was standing a few yards away, dancing on the spot. She was waving her arms excitedly, yelling "firework festival! Who wants to get dango with me!?" Despite her enthusiasm, most of the people around her were eyeing her with suspicious looks, backing away from her and rolling their eyes.

"Hm, most of the villagers don't seem to like her," Daichi noted.

"Well, she is quite annoying." Mai answered. Daichi laughed in agreement. Then they noted that Yoro and another man were seated close to them, both staring at Fuu with narrowed eyes.

"She'll be tough to handle during the chunin exams, what a bother," Yoro said with a sigh. This remark caught the attention of Sasori and Deidara, who listened closely.

"It'll be fine," the other man said, "she's energetic and naive, but we can handle her."

"Yeah, I suppose so. The only danger would be if anyone discovers what she really is…" Yoro replied.

This comment left Sasori and Deidara frozen in place, as they realized what he meant. "We need to confirm our suspicions though," Mai whispered to Daichi before he could say anything.

"How will we do that, hm? Fuu is obviously a…you know." Deidara was speaking in a low tone, but he was still cautious in case he was overheard.

"Well…we'll find a way I'm sure. For tonight though, let's just focus on the firework display." Sasori said after some thought. Deidara smiled warmly and they looked up into the now night sky. The sun had finally departed.

They continued to listen to Yoro and the other man's conversation, but there was nothing of value to it since they had ceased talking about Fuu. The wait for the firework display was not long, about 20 minutes after the sun had set the first firework boomed in the sky. It was a red and gold shower of sparks, and it captivated Deidara. The next few fireworks were green and gold, he laughed and cheered. Fireworks were a true art form to Deidara, beautiful for a fleeting moment, and then they were gone.

Deidara turned to look at Mai's reaction, and he noticed that Sasori was not watching the fireworks. Sasori was looking right at Deidara, with a dreamy gaze. Even though he was disguised as Mai, Deidara could see that Sasori was looking upon him with tender, loving eyes. Deidara felt his heart flutter. He had never seen Sasori give such a look to anyone before.

Mai smiled and then turned her head to look at the firework display. Daichi did the same, all the while keeping the image of those loving, tender eyes in his mind.

…

When the fireworks were over, Mai and Daichi got up and headed towards the motel room. They rushed out quickly, so that Fuu would not see them. Although an interaction with her might help them to realize whether or not she was a jinchuriki, they did not relish another lengthy conversation with the happy-go-lucky kunoichi.

Once back in their room, Deidara felt his heart begin to pound with anticipation. Mai closed the door behind them after placing up the 'do not disturb' sign on the handle. "Wait right here birthday boy," Sasori said before grabbing the scroll with his own body in it. He quickly transformed back into himself, and Deidara stared upon the red haired man who had stolen his heart. Looking at him never ceased to take Deidara's breath away.

Sasori pushed the dazed Deidara backwards, so that he stumbled and fell onto the bed. "Happy birthday brat," Sasori said as he stripped his shirt off, throwing it to the ground roughly. Then he climbed up on the bed, on top of Deidara. Sasori began to kiss Deidara's neck forcefully, nipping it and sucking hard. Deidara placed his hands along Sasori's back, feeling the smoothness of his skin. He pushed down on Sasori, urging him to explore further downwards. Sasori pulled up from Deidara's neck, raising an eyebrow at him.

Sasori gently ran his fingers up over Deidara's shirt and said, "now birthday boy, where would you like me to begin?"

Deidara gulped, feeling both nervous and excited with anticipation of feeling Sasori's body against him. "I-I want you to kiss every inch of my body," Deidara said honestly. He longed to feel Sasori's tongue against his skin in his most intimate parts.

Sasori nodded, and forced Deidara's shirt up over his head. He placed his hands on Deidara's chest, running his finger over Deidara's sewn up mouth placed over his heart. He then traced down Deidara's chest, running his finger to his belly button. He let his hand go further, under Deidara's pants. Deidara held his breath as Sasori's hand found his crotch and began to rub his area gently. Sasori leaned in and kissed Deidara's chest at the same time as his hands worked slowly on Deidara. Deidara felt his erection grow, he relished the feel of Sasori's hands against him. His deft fingers had much practice with controlling puppets, and they definitely knew how to please Deidara.

Deidara began to moan, this was still just a tease, a taster to him. He longed to see Sasori's naked body, wanted to feel their skin touch. Deidara tried to lift up, but Sasori forced him back down. "Patience," he said. He then ripped Deidara's pants and underwear off in one swift motion, throwing his clothes down on the floor. Deidara lay there naked, fully erect now. Sasori took a look at him up and down, "beautiful," he said. Deidara felt as though his entire body blushed.

Sasori leaned back from the bed and kissed Deidara's foot. Deidara laughed, his feet were quite ticklish. "You did say every inch of your body," Sasori reminded him.

"Hey, you know what I meant," Deidara said.

Sasori laughed, "I do enjoy making you squirm, watching you get aroused turns me on," he winked at Deidara and then kissed his ankle, making his way back up his body. He licked his leg up to his knee, which made Deidara laugh again, wriggling his body. It was slightly ticklish, but also pleasurable. He felt his penis throb again. Deidara placed his hand in Sasori's hair as Sasori kissed up his thigh, sucking in some areas to create hickeys.

Deidara moaned as Sasori reached his inner thigh, licking every area around his privates, teasing him mercilessly. "Ung!" Deidara groaned loudly.

Then Sasori finally placed his tongue against the tip of Deidara's penis, rubbing it up and down slowly. Deidara sighed heavily, the sensation was intoxicating. His hand gripped Sasori's hair harder, and he began panting. Sasori's tongue started to move faster, flicking up and down the length of his shaft. "Oh!" Deidara cried.

"Mmm," Sasori said, taking one more lick up the shaft. Sasori then placed Deidara's penis into his mouth slowly, and Deidara arched his back slightly as he felt goose bumps raise up on every part of his body. Sasori sucked up and down, starting slowly and then gradually gaining speed. Deidara had never felt anything like it before, he was glad that the wait for this moment was over. He was enjoying every moment, but still longing for more- longing to have Sasori's naked body pressed up against him.

He groaned again, feeling pleasures that he had not felt before. He wanted to return the favor, so he sat up and pulled Sasori up. Sasori blinked at him in confusion, "I want to keep going, and if you kept sucking on me like that…I was getting close to finishing!" Deidara admitted with a red face. "I want to give you the same pleasure," Deidara added. Sasori smiled, he leaned down and kissed the tip of Deidara's penis, making it pump with excitement. Then Sasori hopped off the bed and dropped his pants and underwear to the floor.

Sasori was fully erect, and Deidara stared at him, grateful that he had kept every part intact and functional even as a puppet. Deidara grabbed Sasori's ass with both hands, clasping it firmly and bringing Sasori closer to him. Deidara sat at the edge of the bed, his face level with Sasori's waist. He decided to tease Sasori a bit, and began kissing his upper thigh, running his tongue against Sasori's skin. He licked up and down Sasori's pelvis, just above his penis. Sasori moaned with delight, and that moan made Deidara go nuts. Deidara slapped Sasori's ass and then pushed his tongue up against the tip of Sasori's penis. Sasori was becoming increasingly excited, he grabbed Deidara's head with both hands, urging him to wrap his mouth around his penis.

Deidara complied, putting Sasori's entire girth in his mouth, sucking it slowly. Sasori's hands on Deidara's head began to shake with pleasure. Deidara sucked harder, moving his head back and forth faster. Sasori was also thrusting his hips in unison with Deidara, feeling the pleasure crawl up his skin.

Sasori was groaning loudly, making a new sound that Deidara had never heard. He was beginning to go wild, his fingers were tightly wrapped in the blonde hair, tangling it. There was a crazed yet passionate look in his eyes as he watched Deidara going down on him. Sasori pulled Deidara's head back a little roughly and said, "get back on the bed, lay down on your back."

Deidara did as Sasori said and Sasori clambered on top of him again. Sasori then kissed him, pushing his lips down against Deidara's with zealous passion. Sasori's tongue pushed Deidara's mouth open, and their tongues twisted together in an intense embrace. Sasori pulled back, and Deidara bit his lip. "Ah!" Sasori cried, he kissed Deidara's neck and then whispered, "you're too cute for your own good, brat."

After that comment, Sasori quickly went down on Deidara again. "Mmm" Deidara moaned with pleasure. Sasori picked up his head again and lifted himself up on his knees. He grabbed Deidara's legs with his arms, lifting them up so that Deidara's feet were by his face.

"Are you ready?" Sasori asked. Deidara nodded, feeling his heart pound against his chest. Sasori slowly pushed his penis into Deidara, and Deidara grunted a little at the initial pinch of pain. "I'll take it slow," Sasori said calmly. He pulled in and out slowly, so that Deidara could get used to the feel of Sasori's girth as it stretched him open.

Once Deidara was used to the feel, he nodded to Sasori knowingly, and Sasori began to thrust a little harder and deeper. Deidara cried out loud as Sasori hit his g-spot. The feeling gave him a tingling sensation all over his body, and he almost felt numb from the pleasure. His penis pulsated again with satisfaction.

"Ah!" Sasori cried, "you feel so good!" Deidara squirmed beneath him, rocking back and forth with Sasori's thrusts.

Deidara was panting hard, getting close to finishing. Sasori gritted his teeth, that wild passionate look was in his eyes again, and this pushed Deidara over the edge. He arched back as Sasori thrusted in deeper, hitting his g-spot again. Sasori laid his body down on top of Deidara's so that their chests collided, and Deidara wrapped his arms around Sasori's back, digging his nails in and scratching it.

"Urg!" Deidara cried, "I'm getting close!" Sasori began to thrust harder, grabbing Deidara's hips towards him to pull himself in deeper.

"Me too! Cum for me Deidara!" Sasori urged.

Deidara came at that moment, as Sasori hit his g-spot once more. Sasori came with him, both of them moaning with pleasure at the orgasm. Sasori pulled out of Deidara slowly, and flopped his body next to Deidara's on the bed. Deidara was breathing heavily, still feeling a rushing, tingling sensation all over his body from his orgasm.

Deidara placed his head against Sasori's shoulder, Sasori brushed his blonde hair back gently out of his eyes. "So, how did that feel?" Sasori asked.

"Amazing," replied Deidara. He was still breathing fast. He took another deep breath in to calm down. His heart felt like it was about to burst.

Sasori kissed Deidara's forehead, "good," he pulled up Deidara's face and kissed him lightly on the lips, "I enjoyed it too." Then they kissed again, soft and delicate kisses.

Deidara turned his body to rest on his side, staring straight at Sasori. He wrapped his arms around Sasori's waist tightly, cuddling up close to him. "Are you sleepy yet?" Sasori asked in a whisper.

"No, not really. I still feel very awake after our activity," Deidara said with a laugh. Sasori laughed with him, rubbing his thumb against Deidara's cheek.

"Well, tell me a story Deidara. Tell me about another one of your dreams, or something about your childhood. Or tell me about that sewn up mouth on your chest," Sasori suggested offhandedly. Deidara could tell that he was curious.

"Oh, you want to know about my ultimate art?" Deidara asked with a smirk. Sasori nodded and Deidara continued, "my ultimate weapon is a massive explosion of my entire body. If I need to, I can unstitch the mouth and feed it clay, and then I'll explode- it's like a suicide bomb."

Sasori looked affronted, "Why do you have such a technique?"

"It's for something big, or an emergency. In a situation against an extremely powerful opponent, such as Itachi Uchiha." Deidara felt powered just speaking about his ultimate art.

Sasori frowned at him, "I don't like the sound of that jutsu. You'd risk your own life so carelessly to defeat Itachi?"

"Well, defeating Itachi is one of my life purposes, hm." Deidara said.

Sasori bit his lip, as if trying to hold back his words. Then he said, "never mind. I don't want to hear about that anymore…talk about something else."

So Deidara spoke about the first time he saw fireworks as a child, reminiscing on the fireworks they had seen earlier that night. As he spoke, he noticed that Sasori was half listening, as though his thoughts were elsewhere. _I wonder why he's so bothered?_

Deidara soon became tired from speaking for so long, and he felt his eyes begin to droop. Sasori laughed a little, "I see you're getting tired. You should go to sleep." He kissed Deidara on the lips again, parting quickly.

Deidara closed his eyes. His heart felt swollen with joy, he couldn't believe the events that had happened tonight. He thought again about how Sasori had looked at him, with those adoring and caring eyes while they watched the firework display. With that image in his mind's eye, Deidara felt a surge of joy that swept through his body, and he felt compelled to do something a little risky. "I love you," he said before he snuggled up closer to Sasori, letting sleep take over. He listened for a response, although perhaps his mind was already bogged down by sleep, because he didn't hear anything. He did however feel Sasori's grip tighten in his hair with surprise before he fell fast asleep.


	9. Chapter 9

Deidara yawned and turned over in the bed, stretching his arms outwards in search of Sasori. He didn't feel Sasori's body around, so he groggily opened his eyes to look for him. _Well, he doesn't sleep, he must have gotten up out of bed a while ago, hm._ Deidara turned to look at the time, it was already 9:45 am. _Wow! Sasori never lets me sleep in this late!_

He pushed himself up to a sitting position, noticing that he was still naked and sticky from last night. _Huh, I need to get in the bath first thing. Maybe I can convince Sasori to join me._ With that dirty thought in his mind, he called out "Sasori my man! Where are you?"

He rubbed his hands over his eyes to wake himself up some more, and looked around their tiny motel room. He then noticed that Sasori's scrolls, which were usually neatly piled up on the dresser, were missing. Another sweeping look around the room informed him that Sasori's extra akatsuki cloak was no longer hanging in the tiny closet, and his puppet tools were not laid out on the desk by the bed. Instead, there was a note.

Deidara picked up the note, recognizing the neat and curvy letters, familiar to him as Sasori's handwriting.

Deidara,

Something came up, I had to leave early this morning. I will not be back to finish the mission. Confirm whether our suspicions about Fuu are true or not.

-Sasori

Deidara turned the note over, hoping that there was more on the back. He couldn't believe how short the note was, and how little it said. _Where on earth did he go? He just left like that? Why?_ Deidara felt his heart sink in his chest, he couldn't understand where Sasori had gone off to, and why.

Deidara looked at the note for some time, staring at it blankly. The more he read the note, the more he realized what had happened. _Sasori left me, he didn't want to be around me anymore,_ his unpleasant thoughts kept swimming through his mind. _He waited until I was fast asleep, and then he grabbed all his belongings and left…he couldn't even think of a proper excuse for leaving, all this damn note says is that "something came up!" What a lie! How could he!? I thought he liked me…after everything that happened last night…and he just left me here all alone…_

Deidara's hand was shaking, causing the note to quiver. Deidara noticed the ink was beginning to smear, and he realized that he was crying, and the tears had dripped onto the note. He put the note back down on the dresser, not wanting to look at it again. He let the tears drip down his face some more, before wiping them away and thinking to himself, _this is stupid, I shouldn't be crying over this fool. I'm sure there's a valid reason he left, there has to be._

Deidara then trudged to the bathroom and washed himself up. He slowly got dressed for the day, although he didn't feel much like going outside. He sighed heavily before leaving his room and walking into the fresh air. It was a sunny, beautiful day out, but Deidara hardly noticed. All he knew was that the sooner he could find out more about this jinchuriki, the sooner he could leave.

….

Deidara decided to take a more direct approach, he was tired of beating around the bush with this assignment now that Sasori had left. Deidara walked up to the wooden hut where the leader lived, and found Yoro standing outside. "Yes?" Yoro asked him, noticing his presence.

"I was wondering if you knew where I could find Fuu?" Deidara replied, "I'm Daichi, she took me to see the waterfall a few days ago."

"What do you need from her?" Yoro asked with suspicion, "And where's the girl you were with?"

Deidara gulped, trying hard not to let his emotions get the better of him as he was reminded again of Sasori's absence. "She went home early, her father is sick," he lied.

Yoro huffed, and Daichi continued, "I'd like to thank Fuu for her kindness the other day. I-I'll be leaving the village soon myself, and she was the most hospitable person I met here."

Yoro rolled his eyes, "That's one way of putting it. Anyway kid, she's not available, she's training for the chunin exams."

"Oh that's right, I remember her mentioning that she was going to that." Daichi said, "who are her partners? From what I remember of the last chunin exam, each village sends teams of 3." He talked lightly, as if he was carrying on the conversation out of a lighthearted and indifferent interest.

Yoro sighed, "listen, I don't have all day to talk with you," he said rather rudely, "I don't know who the other genin are, it doesn't matter. I'm busy preparing for this chunin exam myself."

"Preparing for what? Are you going?" Daichi asked. It seemed that Yoro had let that last part slip.

Yoro shook his head a little too forcefully, trying to amend his previous statement, "oh no, um, I just mean with the leader. I have a lot to talk about with him about the exams…never mind! I don't need to explain it to you, you outsider." He was becoming easily annoyed by Daichi's line of questioning. Deidara's suspicions that Fuu was indeed a jinchuriki were almost confirmed. He had caught Yoro in a lie, just yesterday by the fireworks Yoro was complaining about going to the chunin exams with Fuu, and now he was telling Daichi that he was not going. Deidara could tell that Yoro was either a chunin or jonin level ninja from the way he carried himself, and his high ranking with the leader. _It seems that Yoro and the other man are being sent as guards for Fuu while she competes…they'll pretend to be genin themselves, a clever ploy to ensure that the village Jinchuriki stays protected…_

"Okay then, I'll let you get to it," Daichi said in a kind tone before leaving. If he was going to absolutely confirm his suspicions, he thought it might be best for him to listen in on Sasori's recording devices. He headed back to the motel room to find the recording device they had been using to hear in on the leader's conversations. It had been turned off for some time, Deidara turned it on and listened.

"-kept asking strange questions about Fuu, I don't like it." He heard Yoro's disgruntled voice.

Then the leader's distinct voice came through, "He's probably just a curious traveler, leave it be. Fuu will be fine. She has you and Kegon watching over her in the exams."

"Yes," Yoro sighed, "are you sure you want to do this Shibuki?"

"Yes, our participation in the chunin exams will be a good chance to show our village's strength, and we'll in turn receive more job requests." Shibuki, the leader, replied confidently.

"Yes, but I've been thinking…the village hidden in the sand and leaf have very powerful shinobi, I think someone will be able to detect the immense powerful chakra inside Fuu…" Yoro said.

"If they have suspicions about her tailed beast, then you and Kegon must quiet their suspicions, tell them that she has trained hard and learned chakra control. I don't think it will be of great concern to the leaf or sand village, as their main priorities will be to watch over the genin. The ones we must worry about are the akatsuki." Shibuki warned.

Deidara turned off the device, having heard everything he needed. _So Fuu is a jinchuriki! I should rush out of here and tell Pain as soon as I can- Hidan and Kakuzu will be able to capture her once the chunin exams have finished!_

Feeling proud of himself for figuring this information out on his own, he quickly packed up all his belongings and checked out of the dank motel. He didn't wish to stay any longer, the lingering presence of Sasori still hung in the room. He found strands of red hair on the bed and could smell the faint scent of sex on the sheets. He crumpled up the note left on the dresser and threw it down, stomping on it in anger before he slammed the door behind him, never to return to that room.

…..

Deidara arrived back at the akatsuki hideout later that evening, having flown on one of his clay birds the whole day. Pain was pleased to find that Deidara's mission was a success. Deidara asked Pain where Sasori was, but Pain did not give him a straight answer, "he told me he had to do something of importance and he would return here when he could."

 _He will return here when he can?! What does that mean?_ Deidara wondered to himself. He nodded to Pain and then strolled off, as Pain had not given him another mission or task. _Where could he have gone?_

Deidara moped about all day long, trying to find something to do to distract himself. When he was alone, he either felt like crying or smashing something up out of anger. He decided to do the latter, he went to a deserted cliff and threw some of his clay figurines down into the ditch below, watching the explosions rise up. The dirt rose up with each explosion, staining Deidara's akatsuki robe. This calmed him down a little bit, but he still couldn't get Sasori out of his head.

 _He left me without saying goodbye…right after our most intimate night. I wonder what happened? I remember him seeming a little bothered after I told him about my ultimate art, but why would he be pissed about that? And then…I remember telling him that I love him. Oh gosh, why did I say that then! Maybe he was mad that I said that…but the way he looked at me during the fireworks, I saw that he loved me…I know it! Urgh, why did he make things so complicated? When will he return?_ These thoughts drifted unpleasantly through Deidara's mind, despite his best efforts of distracting them away with another explosion. **Boom!** _Maybe I mistook that look he gave me…maybe he never really loved me, never cared for me the way I do for him…maybe that's why he left…_ A lone tear trickled down Deidara's cheek, he wiped it away quickly.

Deidara gritted his teeth as he felt his eyes stinging again with tears. The tears came fast, dripping down his cheeks no matter how hard he tried to push them back. _This is so stupid! I'm over thinking this…he'll be back soon, I'm sure._ He tried to calm himself down with these thoughts, but the tears continued to flow forth, and he realized in his heart that he did not expect to see Sasori for a while. When someone left like that, they did not often return suddenly and happily. He had left Deidara, in the middle of an important mission. He had left with no intention of returning anytime soon.

….

Deidara's suspicion that Sasori would not return soon were confirmed as day after day went by, without a hint or sign of the puppet master. Even their leader Pain was annoyed by his absence. He had sent Hidan and Kakuzu out to capture Fuu, and he kept grumbling that Sasori would need to return soon in order for them to seal away the beast.

Deidara busied himself with more training, even sparring some with Konan occasionally. He worked on training his eyes against genjutsu, and thinking about various strategies for battle against the Uchiha. Whenever he wasn't training, he would think about Sasori. He tried not to cry anymore, and as the days went by, this became a little easier. He knew he would eventually have to see Sasori again, and he looked forward to that meeting, although with little hope. If Sasori wanted to end things with them, then Deidara at least wanted closure, and wanted to find out why. _I guess we never really did talk about what we were doing...maybe he thought of our affair as a fling, maybe it was something for him to just have fun with…and now I have all these feelings for him, but maybe they were never reciprocated..._ Deidara speculated much on the relationship between himself and Sasori, thinking back to every touch and kiss, and remembering every conversation they had. He replayed all these scenes in his head, trying to make sense of what Sasori had been thinking and feeling during those moments. Attempting to see things from the reserved red-head's point of view made him go nuts. He just couldn't seem to figure out Sasori's thought process.

Two weeks rolled by slowly. Deidara was sitting outside of the akatsuki hideout, forming more detonating clay, mixing it carefully with C0. He heard Pain's voice from inside the small shack that provided as the current akatsuki hideout. They were hidden deep in the woods, with a few deserted cliffs around the area but not much else. It was a perfect hideout for the secretive group.

"Ah, you've finally returned. I was getting impatient," Pain said.

Deidara felt his heartbeat quicken, as he heard the deep grumbling response, "I had a meeting with my spy on Orochimaru." Sasori was back inside his Hiruko armor. Deidara stopped mixing his clay and leaned in towards the shack to listen closer.

"It took you two weeks to meet with the spy? What did he say about our friend?" Pain wondered.

"I had other matters to do…Orochimaru is training the Uchiha boy, molding him into his perfect vessel. He still plans on destroying the leaf village one day, but his goals are to train the Uchiha boy until it becomes time for him to take over the body. His actions should not worry us at this time." Sasori responded.

"Hmm, very well," said Pain, "I'm glad you are back, Hidan and Kakuzu are close to capturing the next tailed beast. Deidara came through on that mission that you left, he found the jinchuriki in the hidden waterfall village."

"Mmm," was all that Sasori had to say about that.

"Furthermore, I deny your outrageous request to kick Deidara out of the akatsuki. He is a valuable member, his jutsu is unique and necessary for us. If you don't like having him as a partner, tough. Being a part of this organization does not mean that you will like everyone in it, but you and Deidara work well together and I will not be giving you a new partner. We don't have anyone else." Pain said in a demanding tone. Deidara felt his chest tighten with fury at these words. _Sasori requested to have me kicked out of the akatsuki?! How dare he!?_

"So be it," Sasori said. Then Deidara heard the distinct sound of the Hiruko armor sliding across the floor as Sasori turned around to leave. Deidara's heartbeat was pounding loudly in his ears, he couldn't hide there any longer. He got up and circled the building until he reached the doorway. He arrived at the exact moment that Sasori exited.

The eyes of the Hiruko puppet grew wide with surprise upon seeing the angered Deidara standing there. "Deidara," was all Sasori could say.

"Long time no see, backstabber," Deidara began, seething with rage, "I don't even know where to start! You wanted to kick me out of the akatsuki!? What did I ever do to make you think I am incompetent!? Hm!?" He was yelling full volume, and Sasori had raised up his arms, trying to quiet him down.

"Shh! Calm down!" Sasori said through clenched teeth. He began to move away from Deidara, but Deidara blocked his path.

"No," Deidara said, a little quieter than before, "I deserve an explanation."

Sasori pushed him aside, moving towards a thicket of trees. "I don't owe you anything," Sasori said.

Deidara followed him, "well you can't have a new akatsuki partner, so if you really want me off your back, then you'd better start explaining things to me! Why would you make a request for me to leave the akatsuki?" Then, in a hushed but angry whisper so that no one else could hear, Deidara added, "you know what being in this organization means to me- you know so much about me, my most intimate secrets, and yet you abandoned me in that village without even bothering to give a good excuse. Do you have any idea how that felt?"

They were still walking away from the akatsuki shack, deeper into the forest. Sasori turned his head around and said, "I don't care. I understand we have to be partners, but just leave me alone."

Deidara was stunned. He didn't expect such a cold reaction from Sasori. He couldn't understand what had happened. _I must have really made him mad somehow…_ He stood rooted on the spot, watching Sasori trudge away deeper into the forest. Deidara didn't know where he was going, but it didn't matter. Deidara didn't want to follow him anymore.

…..

 **Author's Note:** Sorry for all the angst guys, but I feel that there would be some conflict between the two, Sasori just isn't ready to fully love yet. Things will get better though! Hope you all are enjoying the story so far, thanks for reading!


	10. Chapter 10

Deidara did not follow Sasori into the forest, and he did not speak with him again when he returned. Deidara kept to himself, giving icy stares to Sasori whenever he was around. A day passed by before Hidan and Kakuzu came back with Fuu, ready to be sealed away into the Gedo statue. Deidara almost felt relieved at the task at hand, it would give him something to focus on for a little while.

It took two days to seal Fuu's beast into the statue, and Deidra was exhausted once more from the feat. He noticed that Sasori had strolled off towards the hidden hot spring, so Deidara went elsewhere to rest. Avoiding Sasori was his priority at the moment.

….

Pain gathered the akatsuki members together to speak with them about their next few targets. They had gathered intel on most of the remaining jinchuriki, and Pain wanted to discuss the details of these shinobi so that all members would be prepared to go up against them. For the first time in a long time, all the members of the akatsuki had gathered together.

Deidara was half listening to Pain as he droned on about the nine tailed fox and the one tailed beast. He was busy staring daggers at both Sasori and Itachi. It had been a year or two since he had seen the Uchiha, and now that he was in the same room as him, he couldn't help but remember the feeling of embarrassment he had experienced when Itachi had defeated him so easily. _Patience_ he told himself. _Now is not the time…I'll gain my revenge when the time is right, hm._

He was more concerned with the way Sasori was fidgeting next to him. He was in his usual Hiruko armor, but he was moving on the spot, as if he was nervous about something. _Perhaps being close to me is making him uneasy? Hm…I really do wonder what goes on in his mind._

When Pain had finally finished his explanation to everyone, they were dismissed and sent out. He promised to speak with each team individually about their specific assignments once he had figured out which beast would be assigned to which team. Deidara gave another icy glance towards Itachi before heading out, going his separate way from the others.

Deidara wanted to go over the details of his plan to enact revenge on Itachi again, so he was looking for a quiet spot away from the others. He heard something shuffling behind him, and he whipped around to see Sasori was following him.

"What do you want?" Deidara asked in a cold tone.

"I need to speak with you, privately." Sasori said in a deep voice.

Deidara rolled his eyes at him, "Really? I thought you wanted nothing to do with me."

"Quiet, stupid. Keep walking forward and I'll explain once we're away from the others."

Deidara sighed at Sasori but kept moving forward, he was curious to hear what he had to say. He was also a little nervous, _will he finally reveal to me what happened, why he left?_

Once they were deep into the forest and had found a small clearing, Sasori and Deidara stopped. Deidara looked at him, waiting. Sasori emerged from underneath the Hiruko armor, setting it aside. Deidara couldn't hide the rush of emotions that swept forth as he looked upon Sasori's eternal beauty. It had been weeks since he'd seen him, and he suddenly felt like running over to hug him and take in his scent. Every time he saw him, it felt like the first time.

But Deidara clenched his fists and stood still, containing his impulses. He was still waiting for Sasori to speak.

Sasori closed his eyes slowly and said, "I want to make a request."

"Huh?"

"Please, don't get involved with Itachi. Don't attack him here. I know you want to, I saw the way you were looking at him in there." Sasori said. He was almost pleading.

Deidara felt affronted, "I was not going to attack him here with everyone around, how daft do you think I am? And besides, what do you care if I do decide to battle with him here? I thought you didn't care about me." Deidara was furious, and he didn't let Sasori respond, he was yelling at him again, unable to contain his words, "How dare you even come to me and make such a request! After you tried to kick me out of the akatsuki! How can you think that I would listen to anything you say!? I don't know why you hate me Sasori, but get it in your head that I am not leaving anytime soon! Hm!"

Sasori opened and closed his mouth a few times, as though he wasn't sure how to respond. _Good,_ Deidara thought, _I left him speechless._ "I see," Sasori finally said, "If you're not planning on attacking Itachi here, then you are going to wait until you have a chance alone with him?"

"That's right," Deidara said through a tight mouth.

"Alright then," Sasori said before turning around to leave, grabbing his Hiruko armor.

Deidara was shocked by Sasori's sudden move to leave, "Hey! Where do you think you're going?!" he asked.

"We're done here," Sasori said, as if it was that simple.

"No!" Deidara cried, he hated that tears were beginning to fall from his eyes again, fast and warm. "You can't just drag me out here and say a few words and then leave! That's not fair! What the hell happened to us Sasori!?"

Sasori turned his head and looked at Deidara with sad eyes. His eyes reflected the pain that Deidara felt within himself. _If he hates me, then why does he look so sad, so sorrowful?_

"Well," Deidara said as more tears began to flow, "what is it?"

Sasori looked up to the sky, as if silently asking for help, and then crumpled to the floor, "I can't do this anymore," he said in a sullen voice.

"Do what?" Deidara asked.

"Pretending I don't like you or care for you…it isn't working…" Sasori said from the ground. He placed his head in his hands. Deidara relaxed his tense shoulders, and sat down on the ground with Sasori, a few feet away. "Deidara…I thought if I could distance myself from you, that all my problems would be solved."

"What problems?" Deidara asked with narrowed eyes.

"Do you remember what I told you a while ago? That love is one's true weakness?" Deidara nodded and Sasori continued, "Well, I tried to escape from that weakness. I had felt the pain from love as a child when my parents died and granny lied to me. I didn't ever want to feel that pain again, so I shut myself out from the world, and forced myself not to feel. I became a puppet, making myself indestructible. I was sure that my heart would be kept safe, since I had locked it away long ago. And then I met you," He gave Deidara a glance and a sad, small smile. Deidara blinked twice and Sasori continued, "When I first met you, I thought you were nothing but a brat, and I even made that prediction that you would die young. But then you and I got to know each other. There was always something about you that interested me. Maybe it was the way you looked at me, so young and naive but with daring, bold eyes. Or maybe it was that you were a fellow artist, passionate about your own art form. Whatever it was, you had gotten to me, gotten under my skin. The way you questioned me, you were so curious…no one had ever asked about my past before, or bothered to know about who I was underneath my puppet mask. I couldn't deny to myself that I was attracted to you from the moment I saw you, and it unnerved me the way you openly asked about my deepest secrets, the things that I easily kept hidden from others. I tried to ignore your questions, but you broke me down. I enjoyed talking about these things with you, and no matter how hard I tried to keep you at bay, you were always able to break through to me, and then I would open up to you. So I stopped trying to push you away for a little while, and I just let things happen…I never thought I would fall for you as hard as I did…I thought maybe if I could fool around with you, that I would get you out of my system…but it had the opposite effect. I fell pretty hard for you Deidara, and before I could stop it, I was in love with you," Sasori explained everything in an even tone, speaking slowly and choosing his words carefully. He looked at Deidara, waiting for a response.

Deidara didn't know what to say at first. He scooted closer to Sasori and said, "you love me?"

"Yes." Sasori said. Deidara's heart thumped wildly in his chest.

"I still don't understand…why did you leave me alone in the land hidden in the waterfall? Why did you ask Pain if I could leave the akatsuki?"

"Because I was scared," Sasori explained, "I had shut out love for so long, I never thought anyone would get through to me the way you did, and it scared me. When you told me about your plan to use a suicide bomb to kill off Itachi…I felt upset. I was upset because I care about you, and I don't ever want to lose you. That's why I left you that morning, I wanted to get away from you because I thought you were my weakness…I always thought of love as a weakness. If I could push you away again, then maybe you would stop loving me, and we could get back to being platonic teammates. But I realize now that it doesn't work like that. Seeing you so angry at me hurt, but I could deal with it…but seeing you cry just now, that hurt my heart. I just don't know what to do Deidara."

"When I told you I loved you that night…you didn't say anything back…" Deidara was thinking aloud.

"As I said, it scared me. I never thought you could love me, but you did…and then I thought of losing you…I asked Pain to kick you out of the akatsuki as a preventative measure. I thought if you left our organization, that you would forget about your revenge on Itachi, and you'd be safe. Then you could live a full life with someone else, and you'd be happy." Sasori gave Deidara another sad smile.

Deidara had inched his way closer to Sasori while Sasori spoke, and now they were sitting side by side. Deidara grabbed Sasori's hand, holding it in his own for reassurance. "You must think I'm a coward," Sasori said.

"No, I don't think that," Deidara said, "I just think you're a little foolish."

"Foolish?!" Sasori was taken aback.

Deidara smiled, "Yes, foolish. Foolish to think that I would be happy with anyone else but you." Deidara looked into Sasori's eyes. Sasori's eyes grew soft as he realized the meaning behind Deidara's words.

Deidara grabbed Sasori's cheek, rubbing it softly with his thumb, "You don't have to worry about me using that jutsu, or ever dying. As long as I have you by my side, I promise I'll never die. Just promise me that you won't die either," Deidara told him.

Sasori nodded, unable to speak another word. He seemed bewildered by Deidara's calm, and caring manner. Deidara leaned in and kissed the stunned Sasori lightly on his lips, breathing in his familiar scent and ruffling up his red hair a little. When they parted, Sasori asked, "You aren't mad at me?"

"I was…and I was hurt when you left. But I understand now. I'm not mad anymore." Deidara said before giving him another kiss. "Are you still scared to be with me?"

Sasori squeezed Deidara's hand, "No, I don't think so. The only thought that scares me is of you dying and leaving me behind. I won't stop loving you, even after you're gone."

"I feel the same way about you," Deidara said, "You don't have to be scared, just let me in and I'll make sure that you are always happy." He lifted Sasori's hand up and kissed it.

"I'm so sorry," Sasori said, "I caused you a great deal of pain…I never intended to, I just thought it was the only thing I could do."

"Well, your plan almost worked," Deidara admitted, "I was pretty mad at you. But you had one flaw in your plan, you assumed that I would stop loving you. I'll never stop loving you Sasori."

Sasori looked upon Deidara with such tenderness and love in his eyes, it reminded Deidara of that night when they watched fireworks. There was a gleam in Sasori's eyes, as if he was trying to cry. Sasori leaned forward and pressed his lips against Deidara's, kissing him passionately, never daring to let go. The force of his kiss knocked Deidara down to the ground, with Sasori on top of him. They rolled in the grass, kissing each other and feeling each other up with their hands.

They laid in their lip-locked embrace for some time, making up for all the kisses they had missed out on in the last few weeks. Sasori pushed Deidara's shirt up so he could kiss his stomach. Deidara giggled a little, he was a bit ticklish on his stomach. Sasori lifted up, "oh, you're ticklish here?" he asked with a mischievous grin. He bent over and blew a raspberry on Deidara's belly. Deidara kicked up his feet and laughed madly, he let out an unattractive snort.

"Gah! Stop!" He yelled.

"Mmm, I did miss teasing you. It's so much fun watching you're reactions, you're so cute." Sasori said before leaning in to kiss Deidara's stomach. Deidara clenched his muscles, preparing for another raspberry. Sasori placed a soft, delicate kiss on his belly button.

Deidara sat up and kissed Sasori on the lips again, pushing his tongue into his mouth. "I missed you," he said between kisses. Then he pushed Sasori down on the grass and grabbed his pants, pulling them down.

"Oh!" Sasori cried as Deidara pulled down his underwear, "you're quite impatient."

"Impatient? I waited weeks for this," Deidara said before running his tongue up along Sasori's length. Sasori moaned. Deidara smiled to himself as he stuck Sasori's erect member in his mouth, moving up and down slowly.

"Mmm," Sasori said, biting down on his lip, "Turn on your side Deidara, that way I can pleasure you too."

Deidara turned his body so that his own pelvis was in Sasori's face. He continued to give Sasori a blowjob as Sasori undid his pants and pulled them down quickly, revealing Deidara's erection. Deidara felt the hairs on his neck raise in pleasure as Sasori's mouth encompassed his penis. They both pleasured each other passionately, burning with desire for each other. Deidara felt excited by the fact that they were doing this in the middle of the forest. It felt so raw, dirty and risky- anyone could walk in on them at any moment. They felt wild out there, going down on each other zealously in the dirt.

They both came together, moaning deeply as the tingling sensation coursed throughout their bodies. Deidara panted hard, still feeling quite excited. "Wow," Sasori said, laughing, "I didn't expect that."

"I couldn't help myself," Deidara said. He turned his body around and laid next to Sasori, looking at him, "when you told me you love me, it made me excited. It turned me on," Deidara said before giving a nervous laugh.

Sasori held Deidara's chin with his thumb and pointer finger, "once you start doing something sexy like that, I can't hold back either." He kissed Deidara on the mouth, then moved over to kiss his cheek before pulling back again. "I have a hard time controlling myself around you," he told him.

"Really?" Deidara said, raising an eyebrow, "Well, you don't have to hold back your impulses anymore with me."

Sasori gave him a naughty, playful smile, "if I do that, then we'll be going at it all the time. Are you sure you can handle all that? I might leave you sore or bruised…sometimes I feel like getting a little rough with you might be fun…and if I let my impulses take over, there's no telling what might happen."

Deidara bit his lip, "I would like that," he said seductively, "I want to get rough with you too. I love feeling your body on top of mine…inside of me."

"Mmm," Sasori said cuddling close to him, "you've been warned." He then turned Deidara over roughly. "get on your hands and knees," he ordered, "and if I do hurt you, you better tell me," he added in a nicer tone. Deidara complied, doubting that Sasori could hurt him.

Sasori scratched down Deidara's bare back with his nails, leaving marks. "Unf!" Deidara cried, not expecting this. His pupils grew wide with dilation and his penis throbbed, starting to get erect again. Then Sasori slapped his ass, hard. "Ah!" Deidara yelled, his member pulsated once more.

"Does that hurt?" Sasori asked. He had wrapped his arms around Deidara's waist. Deidara shook his head, pleading for Sasori to continue. Sasori grabbed Deidara's penis and began to stroke it. His other hand pulled back and held onto Deidara's ass, clenching it hard, digging in his nails.

Then Sasori placed a finger inside of Deidara, opening him up a little. Deidara groaned with pleasure as Sasori's hand began to rub faster on his penis, stroking it masterfully. Sasori placed another finger inside of Deidara, and Deidara groaned, wanting more.

Sasori stopped jerking Deidara suddenly, and grabbed a handful of his blonde hair, pulling it hard. Deidara was biting hard on his bottom lip, trying not to moan too loudly in the forest. "Mmm, your face is adorable, you brat!" Sasori said, pushing his fingers in deeper. Deidara couldn't help the groan that escaped his lips. He wanted Sasori to touch him again.

Sasori pulled hard on Deidara's hair so that Deidara's head leaned back. Sasori bent over and kissed Deidara hard on his lips. Then Sasori pulled back, biting Deidara's bottom lip. The rough, brutal force of Sasori's actions turned Deidara on, he was fully erect and hard, almost ready to orgasm again. Sasori let go of his bite on Deidara's lip and said, "you ready naughty boy?"

"Yes, give it to me," Deidara whispered back. Sasori smiled and got behind Deidara. Deidara felt a small pinch as Sasori entered him from behind, rocking back and forth gently. Then Sasori began to pick up speed, thrusting with enthusiasm. "Urgh!" Deidara cried with pleasure. Sasori placed his hands on Deidara's waist, squeezing tightly. Deidara grabbed the dirt beneath him for support as Sasori pushed in deeper, hitting his g-spot. Another scream escaped Deidara's lips, and Sasori placed a hand over Deidara's mouth. Deidara put Sasori's fingers in his mouth, sucking on them hard.

Deidara felt sticky with sweat, and dirty from rolling around the ground earlier. With the sweet taste of Sasori's fingers in his mouth and Sasori inside of him, he moaned deep in his throat. He felt Sasori buckle behind him, as he came. Sasori pulled out, releasing his fingers from Deidara's mouth and grabbing Deidara's penis in a quick movement. He rubbed Deidara's penis with one hand, and grabbed his balls with the other hand, fondling them. Deidara grunted heavily as he finished, feeling immense satisfaction from his second orgasm in just a matter of minutes. He didn't even know that it was possible for him to orgasm twice in that short amount of time.

Deidara dropped to the ground on his belly, and Sasori laid next to him, grinning a broad smile. "So?" Sasori asked, "you liked that?"

"Yes," Deidara said. He breathed in deeply, taking in the scent of sex and dirt, "I like it when you're rough with me." Sasori graced his comment with a sweet kiss. Then he laced his fingers in Deidara's hand, and they stared at each other's eyes silently, taking in each detail.

After some time, Deidara said, "Sasori?"

"Hm?"

"Don't ever leave me again,"

"I won't," Sasori said firmly, "I promise. I realize that I can't go on without you. I need your love."

Deidara smiled softly, and they held each other closer. They stayed in that clearing for as long as they dared, simply enjoying each other's presence. Deidara felt truly happy at that moment, and nothing could ever break that happiness. The road ahead was clear- as long as Sasori was by his side, he could accomplish anything, do anything. They would stand together through anything that came their way. Being with Sasori meant being home. Deidara had found a true purpose to keep on living.

…..

They returned to the akatsuki hideout a few hours later, Deidara was covered in grass stains and dirt. Sasori looked stoic in his Hiruko armor, but Deidara knew that he was hiding dirty little smiles beneath that mask. "What the hell happened to you Deidara?" Hidan asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Er-"

"The fool tripped and rolled down a hill," Sasori said in his grumbling voice.

Hidan laughed at that, "if you were more religious, then maybe you'd have better luck" he said. Kakuzu rolled his eyes.

"Enough," Pain said, "I've decided on an assignment for each pair. I'll need to speak with Sasori and Deidara in private." Still laughing, Hidan and Kakuzu left the area, leaving Deidara and Sasori alone with the leader.

"You two will go to the village hidden in the sand and capture the one tailed demon," Pain instructed, "don't rush there though, on the way there I'd like you to continue collecting funds for our organization, however you see fit. There are various villages and small towns on the way to the sand village, make sure to use your time wisely with gathering coin."

Sasori and Deidara nodded and then Pain went on to explain more about their jinchuriki target, the kazekage of the sand village. Deidara listened fully, knowing that this information was important. At the same time though, he kept thinking about everything that had just happened between himself and Sasori. He tried his best to hide the wide smile that wanted to form across his lips. _And now Sasori and I are being sent on another exciting mission, we'll be able to capture this one tailed beast for sure. On the way there, it seems like we'll have plenty of opportunities for other activities as well._ Despite his best efforts, a small, subtle smile played its way on his mouth. Deidara looked forward to their new mission together. Everything seemed to finally be falling perfectly into place. He had finally peeled back the last layer of Sasori's secretive wall, had finally revealed the genuine and honest Sasori. The true Sasori who loved him deeply, and fully.

….

 **Author's Note:** Okay, so maybe I got a little carried away with the smut there? I didn't initially intend on including that dirty little sex scene, but I think it worked in well. What do you all think? I like to think that Sasori and Deidara would have some dirty, rough sex *wink wink*


	11. Chapter 11

The first town that Deidara and Sasori came across was a small one, Deidara didn't even bother to find out the name. To Deidara's surprise, Sasori was in his true form. They had come up with pseudonyms, but Deidara was shocked that Sasori had not used another puppet form. When he asked him about it, Sasori shrugged his shoulders and said, "I'm tired of hiding behind a puppet face, I rarely get to walk around as myself. Besides, when I'm with you, I'd rather be myself." Deidara grinned wide.

They saw posters all over the town, claiming that there was a big eating contest coming up soon. The winner would receive a large sum of money, and Deidara suddenly got an idea. "Hey my man, didn't you tell me before that you can eat and still taste things but you won't ever get full or satiated?"

"Yes, I think I know where you're going with this…" Sasori said.

"Let's do it hm!" Deidara cried, "it'll be hilarious to watch you eat everything while the big guys fall over hm!" Sasori laughed with him at that thought, and they immediately went to the tent to sign Sasori up for the contest which would take place the next evening.

…

Deidara yawned the next morning, they had stayed up quite late, trying out different sex positions on their small hotel bed. Deidara grinned impishly to himself, he wondered if the neighbors had heard the loud moans and sighs coming from their bedroom. They had not bothered to keep quiet.

Deidara was still lying in bed naked as Sasori paced the room while reading the brochure for the eating contest that afternoon. "So there will be three rounds," he read aloud, "a sushi eating contest first, followed by pastries with various fillings and then a hot pepper round last. I guess the last round is more about endurance."

"Hm, you'll be able to do it no sweat," Deidara said jokingly, "I mean, you don't even sweat and you won't feel the pain of the heat."

"Why are you still in bed?" Sasori asked, eyeing his naked body.

"Eh I'm bored," Deidara sighed and leaned back on his pillow. Sasori did not hesitate to join him on the bed, throwing the brochure aside carelessly. He kissed Deidara on the cheek and wrapped his arms around his body.

"As much as I'd like to make you sweat, and see how much you can endure, we do need to get up soon for this competition," Sasori said, placing emphasis on the words "sweat" and "endure." They held each other tight for another minute or two and then got up begrudgingly to get dressed.

…

Sasori was sitting with the other competitors at a large wooden table placed on the stage in the middle of the town's marketplace. Deidara scoffed at all the other competitiors. They were all broad, surly looking men and women with growling stomachs and narrowed eyes. _This will be a piece of cake, hm._

During the first round, Sasori easily ate the most sushi, stopping after the bell rang. He had downed 52 rolls. The 4 contestants who followed to the next round had eaten about 30 each. Sasori surprised the crowd again by eating more pastries than Deidara could even count. Three people followed him to the last round, the hot peppers. The crowd had gotten quite large by now, as everyone whispered to each other about the impossibility of the red head's stomach. Everyone was expecting him to choke up during that last round. Deidara watched as one of the contestants took one bite of the pepper and spit it out upon tasting how hot it was. Another contestant had a red face, sweating like crazy. She soon quit, drinking two full glasses of milk.

Someone in the crowd yelled out "he's cheating! There's no way he could eat that much!"

"Yeah!" another person chimed in, "he must be hiding the food somewhere!" The judges tried to quiet the crowd, but they were causing an uproar with their raucous accusations.

Deidara placed his hand in his bag of detonating clay, sighing heavily. He walked away from the crowd and the stage, dropping off his clay bird to the ground. He walked away from the bird, watching it hop along the dirt ground before he set it off. **Boom!**

Everyone in the crowd turned to look at the explosion in confusion and alarm. They had forgotten all about berating Sasori, and the judges looked beside themselves with bewilderment. One of them rang the bell and said, "Stop there! He wins!" pointing to Sasori. The crowd barely noticed as they looked on in horror at the damage done by the unexpected explosion.

"What the hell happened?"

"Where did that come from?"

"Who would do such a thing?"

They were yelling all sorts of things. _Hm, they just can't appreciate good art._ Deidara walked over to Sasori as he was collecting his winnings, the judge handing it to him in a hurried manner.

"Well, that's one way to distract a crowd," Sasori said with a smile. "Your art really is quite astonishing." Deidara felt his heart swoop, Sasori had never once complimented his art before. Although they were in public, Deidara hugged Sasori and then gave him a kiss on the lips. Sasori smiled at him warmly, not minding that Deidara had expressed his feelings publicly. They departed the area, taking advantage of the chaos that Deidara's explosion caused so that they could sneak back into their bed for more sexual activity before leaving the town.

….

Sasori and Deidara traveled to many different locations, finding various ways to collect money for the akatsuki. As with the first town, they found random ways to acquire money, sometimes joining competitions or hustling money from local fools, even gambling some. They sometimes dawdled with their mission, taking time to enjoy each other's company and to visit the touristy areas of each village. Sasori sometimes took on various puppet roles, depending on the reputation of the village and his mood. Often though, he stayed in his own form, preferring to be himself around Deidara. They always jumped at every opportunity for intimacy. Anytime they found themselves alone, even if they weren't in a bed, they would pleasure each other. Sometimes their sex was rough and dirty, as it was when they made up in the forest, and other times it was sweet and gentle. Either way, Deidara and Sasori enjoyed every moment.

Two months had passed before they got close to the village hidden in the sand. They were now traveling through the desert, walking it during the day and finding shelter in a cave at night. "We will reach the village by tomorrow," Sasori said as they stopped to take a break. The sand was calm at that moment, the wind at ease. Deidara was grateful, he was beginning to get annoyed by the amount of sand that blew up constantly in his face.

They sat down and Deidara took a gulp of water from his canteen. Sasori sat next to him and started chuckling to himself. "What's so funny, hm?" Deidara wanted to know.

"I just thought of that dream you told me about so long ago…the one where I'm sitting on the red sand and you licked up my pear juice," he admitted.

"What made you think of that?" Deidara wondered.

"Well, here we are, sitting in all this sand, so close to my hometown. The sand isn't red, but you and I are here. I guess I just never thought I would come back to this damned place." Sasori said. He didn't say it with hate, but rather, with an offhanded smile.

"Are you upset that we have to go to the sand village?" Deidara asked.

"No. I might have been under different circumstances, but with you, I feel I can do anything." Sasori said with a smile. "Besides, with my spy in place, there will be minimal interaction with the sand shinobi. He'll take them out and we can walk in smoothly. Then it will be up to you to get our jinchuriki while I wait. It should be a simple mission."

"Yeah," Deidara agreed, "They'll quiver with awe at my art, hm!"

"Yes," Sasori said, "just don't go too overboard. Be careful, this Gaara sounds like an ominous opponent."

"Of course," Deidara said, "I won't let the sand man get the best of me, hm." Sasori laughed at Deidara and then slid over next to him and kissed him on his jaw. Deidara turned his face towards Sasori and they began to kiss each other passionately, before the wind whipped up the sand again, blowing it roughly against their faces.

"Argh!" Deidara cried, pulling away and trying to get the sand out of his mouth.

Sasori laughed again, rolling around on the ground, "this _is_ just like your dream!"

"Yeah well it was an ocean of blood that pulled us apart in my dream, not the sand…" Deidara said, still spitting out bits of sand from his mouth.

"Yeah, that's true. Maybe the dream was a premonition." Sasori said, deep in thought.

"A premonition of what?" Deidara asked. "I mean, it didn't end very well…I was being pulled away from you in a sea of blood. I shudder to think what that might symbolize."

"Yeah you're right," Sasori chimed in, "it was just a silly dream. You won't be pushed away from me anytime soon." As he said these words, he grabbed Deidara's hand in his own, rubbing his thumb over his palm soothingly. Deidara looked at Sasori, taking in his warmth and looking at every detail of his beautiful face and that deep, red hair.

…..

That night, they cuddled up in a small cave just a few miles away from the sand village. They were close to their destination, but wanted to wait for the next day, savoring one last comforting night together before the chaos of capturing a jinchuriki. Sasori was spooning Deidara from behind, pulling him in close, his nose brushing against Deidara's ear. Deidara turned his head to kiss Sasori.

"I love you," he said. He saw the instant smile that spread across Sasori's lips.

"I know," Sasori said, "I love you too." He kissed Deidara on the forehead. "Promise me you won't do anything foolish tomorrow, stay safe. It would be better if you grab the jinchuriki quickly. Don't keep me waiting, worrying about you."

"I won't," Deidara said, "and you don't have to worry, the village is no match for my art. Most villages seem happy to be rid of their jinchuriki, it will be interesting to see how the villagers react to their kazekage being taken…but maybe they secretly want him gone, maybe they all fear their leader with his tailed beast living inside him, hm."

"Maybe…" Sasori said, "but from the intel we gathered, it seems he is loved by the people of his village. So get in and out of their quickly, that would be best."

"Alright my man," Deidara said, leaning his head back to give him a reassuring kiss on the neck. "Don't worry about me."

"I'll always be worrying about you," Sasori said. There was a slight pause and then Sasori changed the conversational mood, "When we're finished with this mission, we should take a nice warm bath together. You'll probably be covered in sand, and I'll need to clean you up," Sasori said seductively.

"I like the sound of that hm!" Deidara said. They kissed again, lightly and romantically. Soon, Deidara was dozing off, feeling at peace in Sasori's arms.

Little did Deidara know that this would be the last kiss, the last look, and the last time he would rest in Sasori's arms. After that night, Deidara no longer had any dreams. Only nightmares.


	12. Chapter 12

The events of the next day happened so fast, Deidara could barely take time to breathe or think. After a longer than expected battle with Gaara in which Deidara lost an arm, he was finally able to capture the jinchuriki host. _Hm, Sasori won't like that I've lost an arm._

They were soon able to rendezvous at their meeting point to seal away the one tailed beast after Sasori fought off Gaara's brother. Deidara sighed, thinking that this was the end, but he was soon to learn from Zetsu that there were leaf shinobi right outside their hideout. Deidara couldn't help but brag about the jinchuriki's death to the feisty blonde boy. Once he learned that he was a jinchuriki as well, Deidara felt ambitious to capture another. He and Sasori split up, Deidara had lured the blonde jinchuriki and his master away from the hideout, leaving Sasori to fight off the pink haired kunoichi and old lady. _Piece of cake,_ Deidara thought, not thinking for a moment that Sasori was in any imminent danger.

With the battle that ensued, Deidara lost his other arm from that damned sharingan user, Kakashi. He had ended up using a clay clone and a suicide bombing technique, hiding his real body. He was furious to find out that it had not worked, that the leaf shinobi had made their escape and had even taken Gaara's body.

He began to look for his arm, figuring this would be more important than finding Sasori at the moment. Once he had found his arm, he would go to Sasori, surely to get reprimanded. Then he hoped Sasori would have a method of reattaching his arm, he didn't fancy going to Kakuzu to sew it up.

Deidara found Tobi and Zetsu looking upon his detached arm, and his anger released on the annoying Tobi for insulting him. Once he had taken the arm from Tobi, he heard the news that devastated him. His stomach dropped as he heard Tobi say the words he never thought he would hear.

"Oh, you didn't know?" Tobi said in his sing song voice, "Sasori was defeated by his own grandmother and that kunoichi!"

"What?" Deidara said, his heart beat had intensified, and he felt an unpleasant lump in his throat, "that's not true, hm."

"Go and see for yourself, we were just there to collect his ring!" Tobi replied, taking the ring out of his pocket. Deidara cried aloud at the sight of Sasori's ring, Tobi must not have been lying after all. He wanted to break out in tears right then and there, but that would mean admitting to Tobi and Zetsu that he loved Sasori. That wasn't something he was willing to do.

"Take me to him, hm." Deidara said after some time. He had grabbed the ring from Tobi, but Tobi snatched it back.

"That's mine now! I believe you'll be my new partner!" Tobi said. Deidara couldn't think of anything worse at that moment. He despised Tobi. Not only was Tobi annoying, but he had also brought attention to the fact that Sasori was dead. Deidara rushed over to the site of Sasori's battle, Zetsu and Tobi following closely behind.

Deidara went in to see it for himself. He told Tobi and Zetsu to wait outside while he bid his goodbyes to his old partner in the destroyed cavern. They complied, not asking any questions, which Deidara was thankful for.

Deidara crumpled up into a lone figure next to the puppet. It was now just a lifeless puppet, the body no longer contained the beautiful soul of Sasori. Deidara cursed himself for losing both arms, he so dearly wanted to touch that red-haired face one more time. _Is it still warm? Or does his face feel cold now?_ Deidara leaned in and kissed Sasori's head. His lips met the cold puppet body, and a shiver ran up his spine. The tears were flowing fast now, falling onto the puppet face. Deidara leaned his head into the puppet chest, heaving and sobbing heavy tears of sorrow. He felt as though his heart had been ripped apart from his chest, and someone had stabbed it with a pinpoint needle, letting the blood drip slowly, painfully.

He wasn't sure how long he stayed there, crying into Sasori's lifeless form. _Eternal puppet…but with a weakness! He wasn't eternal, his art form failed him. How ironic, he was so worried about me dying, and he went and got himself killed!_ Deidara felt a mixture of anger and sadness, he couldn't contain the feelings brewing inside of him. He sat up, looking upon the wet chest of Sasori, the man he loved. _I'll never stop loving you, even after you die…_ The familiar words of his dream from long ago swept over him. _Why Sasori? Why were you taken away from me?_

Deidara kissed his cold lips one last time and then got up, knowing that Tobi and Zetsu were waiting for him outside. He took a deep breath to compose himself, although he doubted he would ever relax again. He didn't know what to say or do, he followed them in a haze.

He was thinking about the resolve he had made to Sasori, that he would be careful and not use his ultimate jutsu in his battle against the Uchiha. He knew at that moment that that promise was now out the window. With Sasori gone, he didn't need to be careful or watch his step anymore. If he died in battle with Itachi, he would accept death. He almost wanted to die at that moment. If the other members of the akatsuki weren't around to give him orders, he might have let himself go right there. But there were still things to do. He was still part of an organization. And now, more than ever, he wanted to enact his revenge on Itachi, wanted to kill him. He felt that he needed to kill someone, would not be satiated until he had killed thousands. The death of Sasori weighed on him heavily, it was not something he would ever let go. The entire world could burn from his art, and he still would not be satisfied without Sasori by his side.

…

Deidara ruminated about these past events as he followed the high spirited Tobi. They had just sealed away the three tailed and four tailed beasts and were now on their way to find either Sasuke or the nine tailed jinchuriki. It had been several months since Sasori's death, but Deidara still faced nightmares every time he closed his eyes. He dreamed of Sasori's death, over and over in his sleep for several weeks after it happened. He would wake up panting heavily, feeling his chest tightened with fear and suffering. The tears would then come, leaving him feeling hollow inside. He lay restless many nights, thinking about all the fond memories he had shared with Sasori. The pain was so much, so heavy on his heart that he could barely move from his bed each morning. But somehow, he survived, somehow, he got up each day and followed the tasks set to him from the akatsuki.

His waking life was not much better, he tried to ignore his feelings of sadness as best as he could around the akatsuki members. Whenever he was alone however, he could no longer keep the seal on his emotions. He would feel a familiar lump rise in his throat and slowly the tears of his despair and loneliness would fall forward, encompassing him. He once cried by the river after the akatsuki members had finished a meeting. He heard footsteps coming his way, and he quickly brushed the tears away from his face, trying to come up with some excuse for why his eyes were red and puffy. But Konan simply sat next to him and patted his back, not saying a word. He stared at her for some time, blinking in confusion. She gave him a sad, knowing smile. No words were exchanged, but the company she provided was enough. He let himself cry again, and she patted his back soothingly, even as he heaved in deeply and let out moans of pain. When he had finished crying, she simply got up and walked away. He followed her back when he was ready, grateful for her support.

Besides the comfort that Konan conveyed with her soulful eyes and gentle pats on the back, he felt totally alone in this world. He didn't much care for the other members of the akatsuki, all they did was argue and talk about world domination. Being a member of the akatsuki was a distraction from his loneliness, it gave him something to focus on. He could focus on creating more art and destroying people along the way. He could focus on his goal of finishing off the smug Itachi Uchiha. Being a part of the akatsuki gave him something to do until he met his death, which he was sure wouldn't be far down the road. He didn't want to live in a world without Sasori.

To make matters worse, he despised his childish partner Tobi and was enraged by Orochimaru's recent death. He had hoped to kill Orochimaru himself, as part of his path to bring Sasori justice. He knew how much Sasori had hated Orochimaru for leaving the akatsuki. He now wanted to kill Sasuke Uchiha as well as Itachi. If he could just focus on killing Sasuke and Itachi, he could take his mind off of Sasori.

Deidara and Tobi hopped onto his clay birds and flew upwards, looking for their targets. Deidara used his scope to track the earth, looking for a sign of either the blonde haired jinchuriki or the overconfident Uchiha.

It didn't take long to find Sasuke, luck had graced Deidara and Tobi as Deidara spotted him with his scope. Tobi was sent down and hid in the forest, "show yourself, who are you?" Sasuke asked, looking back over his shoulder. Tobi was hiding amongst the trees. Tobi walked out and began speaking, while Deidara watched from above, unnoticed by Sasuke.

Deidara flew in lower and began his attack on the arrogant Uchiha, sending his clay explosions directly towards Sasuke. He thought for a moment that the battle was over, but as the smoke dissipated he saw the form of a giant molted snake.

"Yeah, nicely done Deidara," Tobi teased. _He has no respect for me! Hm, I'll show you Tobi! You'll soon see what true art is!_

"Quiet!" Deidara had had enough of Tobi's lack of appreciation for his art.

As their fighting ensued, Deidara felt proud of his ability to repel genjutsu. He began using C1 explosives, but soon had to up the ante with his higher level chakra explosives. Sasuke was fast, and his lightning blade was sharp, cutting through Deidara's clay figurines with ease. The clay figurines reanimated themselves and chased Sasuke, then they attached to his body. Deidara set off the clay bombs, but in the aftermath of the explosion, Deidara realized that Sasuke had cleverly used a substitution jutsu. _This Uchiha brat won't just die easily!_

The next trick up Deidara's sleeve was his C2 dragon. He sent Tobi to bury the landmines while he lured Sasuke in with his flying dragon. He sent guided missiles to Sasuke, expecting to kill him this time. However, Sasuke avoided the explosion again by activating his curse mark given to him by Orochimaru. This was going to be trickier than Deidara had anticipated.

Yet, Deidara was sure he had trapped the Uchiha, who was now surrounded by landmines. He sent a large bomb towards Sasuke, who deflected it with his curse mark wings. The effect of his explosion tore off one of Sasuke's wings. _Now I have you!_ Deidara thought. Again, he was wrong. Sasuke jumped up with the next attack and landed on his sword which was sticking up from the ground. He activated his lightning jutsu at the same instant.

Sasuke flew up, using his lightning blade, he pierced the C2 dragon. Deidara was now falling fast, and Sasuke took his chance to throw large shuriken, sticking Deidara's arms against his dragon. Deidara only managed to pull up the shuriken just in time, escaping by the skin of his teeth. _Damage to my arms again!?_ He didn't like the idea of having Kakuzu sew him up for a third time in his life.

Deidara was incensed, he quickly grabbed a large handful of clay, eating it fervently before throwing it up to create his largest clay clone ever. He was riding high in the sky from atop his clay bird, watching the clay from his mouth form into a perfect clone of himself. Sasuke wouldn't escape his C4 giant clone, not this time. Deidara set it off, feeling a rush of adrenaline through his veins at the sound of the explosion. The blast wave would destroy Sasuke from the inside out, microscopically.

Deidara felt a rush of relief and satisfaction as he watched the effect of his magnificent art. "I've won!" he shouted. At that moment however, he felt as though someone was watching him from behind. Sasuke pierced through him with his lightning chakra, right through his chest.

However, it wasn't the real Deidara that Sasuke pierced, but just another clay clone. Deidara surprised Sasuke by grabbing his ankle, he had been hiding within his clay bird. He was still quite pissed off at the Uchiha boy for evading death multiple times. He threw up another C4 clone, encompassing Sasuke with it. He jumped back and watched as Sasuke cut himself out of the form. Deidara went to set off the microscopic C4 bombs, falling back towards the earth as he did.

He believed to have won again, but Sasuke surprised him by giving him a punch right in the face. Deidara couldn't believe that Sasuke had figured out that his jutsu was an earth style, and since Sasuke's was lightning style, Sasuke was able to deactivate his C4. Sasuke explained how he had figured out Deidara's jutsu, all while wearing a cool, satisfied look on his face. _I'll soon wipe off that smug look! Hm!_

Deidara was sitting on the ground, he tried to get up but his body was shaking from the effort. There was only one jutsu left he could use. The jutsu that he promised Sasori he wouldn't use. He yelled back at Sasuke, but in the back of his mind, he was thinking about Sasori. _Soon, I'll be reunited with you Sasori._ He released the stitching from the mouth sealed over his heart, and grabbed the last chunk of white clay from his bag.

Sasuke sat across from him, looking smug until the last stitches came loose, revealing the teeth and tongue on Deidara's chest. His eyes widened in surprise, and Deidara smiled. _Sorry Sasori,_ he thought, _but this Uchiha won't die unless I do too, hm._ He fed his chest the clay, feeling his body tingling all over as the detonating clay ran through his body, emboldening his veins.

As he yelled his last words at Sasuke, speaking in passion about his art, he thought again about Sasori. He had heard someone say before that your life flashes before your eyes at the moment of death. They were almost right. Deidara did not see any flashes of his childhood or any of his life before meeting Sasori. The visions that flashed through his mind in the split second before his explosion were only of the red-haired puppet master. He saw the flashback of the first time he had seen Sasori, and how it had stopped his heart. He remembered their first real kiss in the hot spring, and how happy he felt that Sasori's lips were human like and warm against his own. He recalled the moment when Sasori told him he was attracted to him, and the time when he finally admitted his true love for him. He saw all of it, every event both good and bad flashed before him. Deidara had given his life up in the hopes that there was an afterlife where he would meet Sasori again. If there was no afterlife, then at least his pain would cease.

Before he scattered himself to dust in his explosion, he smiled warmly to himself, feeling lucky to have been alive with Sasori and to have found love and happiness. That love may have been short lived, but it had burned brighter than any explosion Deidara could ever produce. Their love was like his art form, fleeting but brilliant, as the fire had burned deep within both of their hearts. That fire of love did not die out in Deidara, even after Sasori's death. In that sense, their love was like Sasori's art form, eternal. Death could not stop their love, nothing on this earth could tear their souls apart. Everlasting, and never dying, this was the love of Sasori and Deidara. The yin and yang of their art forms had played out in their love lives, showing the two of them what it meant to love another more than anything else in this world.

End

….

 **Author's Notes:** Sorry that the last chapter is pretty sad, but I wanted to keep as close to canon as I could, and both Sasori and Deidara die unfortunately. I'm thinking about writing a short epilogue about them regaining consciousness as a reanimation for the 4th shinobi war. Hope you guys liked the story! Sorry if the last chapter seems quick, we all know how the fight with Sasori vs Sakura and Deidara vs Sasuke goes, so I just put in brief summaries and tried to focus on Deidara's sadness. I believe they would both be reunited in the afterlife though! They will be eternally happy together there.


	13. Epilogue

Deidara blinked his eyes open, his memory was hazy and he felt strange. He was back in his own body! Or was he? _I thought I was dead, how am I back here hm?_

Deidara looked down at his hands and then saw his reflection in a small puddle under his feet. He was shocked to see that his eyes were black, with gray pupils. _So, this must be the reanimation jutsu huh!?_

He was incensed that someone had reanimated him and that he would not be in control of his movements. He wondered who could have done this, and why. He looked around, and that's when he noticed that he was surrounded by other reanimations in a wooded glen.

The reanimation of Sasori caught his immediate attention. He didn't even consider the others around them, he rushed forward towards Sasori while he still had control over his body and mind.

"Sasori!" he cried, hugging him.

Sasori hugged him back, but tentatively, "be careful," he warned, "I think the jutsu caster is not far, he must have summoned us here for some purpose…I don't know what yet though."

"Me neither, hm." Deidara admitted, still standing close to his red-haired lover. They were already dead, so he didn't care what people thought.

"Do you remember it?" Sasori asked him, looking at him with a small smile.

"Remember what? Death? A little…" Deidara said, thinking back to his battle with Sasuke. He wondered if Sasuke would be reanimated as well.

"Not death," Sasori clarified, "but what came after. I remember. It feels like a dream now that I've been reanimated, but it's probably the clearest dream I can ever remember having."

"Huh?" Deidara asked. He had been so preoccupied with questions about who would reanimate them and why, that he didn't even linger on the thought of what had happened to him after his death. He closed his eyes and thought hard, remembering something…it was a faint, distant memory, but as he pulled deeper into his mind, the picture became clearer.

The image of Sasori stood out in his mind. After death, Sasori was the first soul he encountered in the afterlife. But Sasori's form was slightly different, he was no longer a puppet. His skin was smooth and perfect, without the creases of puppetry or the chambers for his weapons. His hair was a more vibrant red and his eyes shined with the purest of happiness and innocence. They were together, perfect and happy. He didn't remember much of the place they were in, but he knew instantly that he wanted to get back there. They no longer belonged on earth, their souls had already left this world and they needed to get back to where they were supposed to be.

"I remember it," Deidara said, opening his eyes. "Whoever did this to us will regret it, hm!"

"Patience," Sasori said, taking Deidara's hand in his, "there has to be a way to undo the jutsu, so we can get back to our paradise."

"Yes," Deidara agreed, "let's find out who cast this jutsu and then we'll be a step closer to going back there."

Sasori smiled at him, "we'll do it together, like always." He lifted up Deidara's hand to his lips, kissing it softly.

Deidara leaned forward and kissed Sasori on the lips, smiling into the kiss. He pulled back and looked into his black eyes, "yes," he said, "you and I, together forever." Sasori smiled at his statement.

Just then, Deidara's body moved of its own accord, back to his original spot. A wooden coffin emerged from the ground, encasing him. He saw that Sasori's body had also been encased by a wooden coffin. The two of them smiled at each other before the door of the coffin slammed over their faces. Paradise awaited them just beyond this world, and they would soon go back there. Then they would be together, forever and always.


End file.
